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Health to Body and Soul, September 3
Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health,
even as thy soul prospereth.
3 John 2
.
There are conditions to be observed by all who would preserve health. All
should learn what these conditions are. The Lord is not pleased with ignorance in
regard to His laws, either natural or spiritual. We are to be workers together with
God for the restoration of health to the body as well as to the soul.
And we should teach others how to preserve and to recover health. For the sick
we should use the remedies which God has provided in nature, and we should point
them to Him who alone can restore. It is our work to present the sick and suffering
to Christ in the arms of our faith. We should teach them to believe in the Great
Healer. We should lay hold on His promise, and pray for the manifestation of His
power. The very essence of the gospel is restoration, and the Saviour would have us
bid the sick, the hopeless, and the afflicted take hold upon His strength.
The power of love was in all Christ’s healing, and only by partaking of that love,
through faith, can we be instruments for His work. If we neglect to link ourselves in
divine connection with Christ, the current of life-giving energy cannot flow in rich
streams from us to the people. There were places where the Saviour Himself could
not do many mighty works because of their unbelief (
The Desire of Ages, 824, 825
).
The body must be kept in a healthy condition in order that the soul may be in
health. The condition of the body affects the condition of the soul. He who would
have physical and spiritual strength must educate his appetite in right lines. He must
be careful not to burden the soul by overtaxing his physical or spiritual powers.
Faithful adherence to right principles in eating, drinking, and dressing is a duty that
God has laid upon human beings.
The Lord desires us to obey the laws of health and life. He holds each one
responsible to care properly for his body, that it may be kept in health (
Evangelism,
261
).
The Saviour in His miracles revealed the power that is continually at work in
man’s behalf to sustain and to heal him. Through the agencies of nature, God is
working, day by day, hour by hour, moment by moment, to keep us alive, to build
up and restore us....
The desire of God for every human being is expressed in the words, “Beloved, I
wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul
prospereth”....
True religion and the laws of health go hand in hand (
My Life Today, 135
).
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