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Industry, May 7
Keeping Physically Fit
Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might.
Ecclesiastes 9:10
The life of Jesus was filled with industry, and He took exercise
in performing varied tasks in harmony with His developing physical
strength. In doing the work that was marked out for Him, He had no
time for indulgence in exciting, useless amusements. He ... was trained
in useful labor, and even for the endurance of hardship....
Christ presents before us a pattern for youth and children. His early
life was lived under conditions favorable to the obtaining of physical
development and to the acquisition of moral power to resist tempta-
tion, so that He might remain untainted amid the corruption of wicked
Nazareth....
The education of Christ, during the time He was subject to His
parents, was of the most valuable kind.... The physical and mental
exercise that was necessary to the performance of His tasks developed
both physical and mental strength. His life of industry and retirement
closed the avenues through which Satan could enter to tempt Him to
the love of vanity and display. He waxed strong in body and spirit, thus
gaining a preparation for the duties of manhood and for the performance
of the important duties that afterward devolved upon Him.
Jesus was an earnest, constant worker. Never lived there among
men another so weighted with responsibilities. Never another carried so
heavy a burden of the world’s sorrow and sin. Never another toiled with
such self-consuming zeal for the good of men. Yet His life was a life
of health. Physically as well as spiritually He was represented by the
sacrificial lamb, “without blemish and without spot.” In body as in soul
He was an example of what God designed all humanity to be through
obedience to His laws.
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