“Ye said also, Behold, what a weariness is it! and ye have snuffed at it, saith the LORD of hosts; and ye brought that which was torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering: should I accept this of your hand? saith the LORD.” Malachi 1:13

“The feeble and suffering ones must be educated line upon line, precept upon precept, here a little and there a little, [Isaiah 28:13] until they will have respect for and live in obedience to the law that God has made to control the human organism. Those who sin against knowledge and light, and resort to the skill of a physician in administering drugs, will be constantly losing their hold on life. . . .

“Conscientious physicians should be prepared to enlighten those who are ignorant, and should with wisdom make out their prescriptions, prohibiting those things in their diet which he knows to be erroneous.

“He should plainly state the things which he regards as detrimental to the laws of health, and leave these suffering ones to work conscientiously to do those things for themselves which they can do, and thus place themselves in right relation to the laws of life and health. When from an enlightened conscience they do the very best they know how to do to preserve them in health, then in faith they may look to the Great Physician, who is a healer of the body as well as of the soul.

“We are health reformers. Physicians should have wisdom and experience, and be thorough health reformers. Then they will be constantly educating by precept and example their patients from drugs. For they well know that the use of drugs may produce for the time being favorable results, but will implant in the system that which will cause great difficulties hereafter, which they may never recover from during their lifetime.” –Medical Ministry, p. 224 (emphasis mine)

“Remember that your responsibility is measured, not by your present resources and capacities, but by the powers originally bestowed and the possibilities for improvement. The question which each one should ask himself is not whether he is now inexperienced and unfit to labor in God’s cause, but how and why he is in this condition, and how it can be remedied. God will not supernaturally endow us with the qualifications which we lack; but while we exert the ability we have, He will work with us to increase and strengthen every faculty; our dormant energies will be aroused, and powers which have long been palsied will receive new life.

“So long as we are in the world, we must have to do with the things of the world. There will ever be a necessity for the transaction of temporal, secular business; but this should never become all-absorbing. The apostle Paul has given a safe rule: ‘Not slothful in business; fervent in spirit; serving the Lord.’ [Romans 12:11]. The humble, common duties of life are all to be performed with fidelity; ‘heartily,’ says the apostle, ‘as to the Lord.’ Whatever our department of labor, be it housework or field work or intellectual pursuits, we may perform it to the glory of God so long as we make Christ first and last and best in everything. But aside from these worldly employments there is given to every follower of Christ a special work for the up building of His kingdom—a work which requires personal effort for the salvation of men. It is not a work to be performed once a week merely, at the place of worship, but at all times and all places.” –Testimonies for the Church, vol. 5, p. 459 (emphasis mine)

“If the living machinery were properly cared for, there would not be today one-thousandth part of the suffering that there is. We are God’s children, and we are to be apt students in studying the philosophy of health. If we are well, we should learn how to keep well by studying to some purpose the principles of health reform. Seventh-day Adventists should not follow the health-destroying customs of the world because it is the fashion to follow these customs.–Manuscript 4, 1905, p. 2. (“The Prevention of Consumption,” December 27, 1904.)” –Manuscript Releases, vol. 2, p. 181

“Christ is the Great Physician, not only of the body, but of the soul. He restores man to his God. God permitted His only-begotten Son to be bruised, that healing properties might flow forth from Him to cure all our diseases. Physicians are to act in Christ’s stead. Every physician who has planted his feet upon the Rock of Ages draws from the Great Physician his restoring power. Christ’s plans are to be carried out more definitely by the Christian physician.

“As Christ was about to leave His disciples, those who were to represent Him to the world, He gave them a new commandment. ‘A new commandment I give unto you,’ He said, ‘That ye love one another; as I have loved you, that ye also love one another. By this shall all men know that ye are My disciples, if ye have love one for another.’ [John 13:35]. That love they knew not until they saw the suffering and death of Jesus Christ upon the cross of Calvary. The new commandment of love was given in behalf of the weak, the wretched, and the helpless.

“To the heart of Christ the very presence of trouble was a call for help. The poor, the sick, the desolate, the outcasts, the discouraged, the desponding, found in Him a compassionate Saviour, a Mighty Healer. ‘A bruised reed shall He not break, and smoking flax shall He not quench, till He send forth judgment unto victory.’ Christ identifies His interests with those of suffering humanity, and He tells us that whatever we do to relieve a sufferer, we do for Him.” –Medical Ministry, p. 120–121

While we are crossing the path of this world, are we ready to give Jesus our heart, mind and soul wholeheartedly? Do we look Jesus as our Great Physician? God said, “Come unto Me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.” Matthew 11:28

May God bless us all! Amen.

Cheryl Mañago