Personal Health
73
would be in accordance with that of our divine Master.—
Testimonies
for the Church 2:568
.
Physical labor is a blessing, but spending too much time at
it robs God of the service He requires of the minister—Brother
D is active and willing to do, willing to bear burdens that are not
connected with his calling; and he has had his mind and time too
much engrossed in temporal things. Some ministers maintain a certain
dignity not in accordance with the life of Christ, and are unwilling to
make themselves useful by engaging in physical labor, as occasion
may require, to lighten the burdens of those whose hospitalities they
[71]
share, and to relieve them of care. Physical exercise would prove a
blessing to them, rather than an injury. In helping others they would
advantage themselves. But some go to the other extreme. When their
time and strength are all required in the work and cause of God, they
are willing to engage in labor and become servants of all, even in
temporal things; and they really rob God of the service He requires
of them. Thus trivial matters take up precious time which should be
devoted to the interests of God’s cause.—
Testimonies for the Church
2:643
.
Diet
Too much food and too little exercise enfeeble the mental and
moral powers—Some of our ministers eat very heartily and then do
not exercise sufficiently to work off the waste matter which accumu-
lates in the system. They will eat and then spend most of their time
sitting down, reading, studying, or writing, when a share of their time
should be devoted to systematic physical labor. Our preachers will
certainly break down in health unless they are more careful not to
overload the stomach by too great a quantity of even healthful food.
I saw that you, Brother and Sister A, were both in danger on this
point. Overeating prevents the free flow of thought and words, and
that intensity of feeling which is so necessary in order to impress the
truth upon the heart of the hearer. The indulgence of appetite beclouds
and fetters the mind, and blunts the holy emotions of the soul. The
mental and moral powers of some of our preachers are enfeebled by
improper eating and lack of physical exercise. Those who crave great
quantities of food should not indulge their appetite, but should practice