Laws Governing the Mind
39
the star and the atom control human life. The laws that govern the
heart’s action, regulating the flow of the current of life to the body,
are the laws of the mighty Intelligence that has the jurisdiction of the
soul. From Him all life proceeds. Only in harmony with Him can be
found its true sphere of action. For all the objects of His creation the
condition is the same—a life sustained by receiving the life of God, a
life exercised in harmony with the Creator’s will. To transgress His
law—physical, mental, or moral—is to place oneself out or harmony
with the universe, to introduce discord, anarchy, ruin.—
Education, 99,
100
(1903).
Effect Follows Cause With Certainty—By the laws of God in
nature, effect follows cause with unvarying certainty. The reaping
testifies to the sowing. Here no pretense is tolerated. Men may
deceive their fellowmen and may receive praise and compensation for
service which they have not rendered. But in nature there can be no
deception. On the unfaithful husbandman the harvest passes sentence
of condemnation. And in the highest sense this is true also in the
spiritual realm.
[417]
It is in appearance, not in reality, that evil succeeds. The child who
plays truant from school, the youth who is slothful in his studies, the
clerk or apprentice who fails of serving the interests of his employer,
the man in any business or profession who is untrue to his highest
responsibilities, may flatter himself that, so long as the wrong is con-
cealed, he is gaining an advantage. But not so; he is cheating himself.
The harvest of life is character, and it is this that determines destiny,
both for this life and for the life to come.—
Education, 108, 109
(1903).
Power of Self-deception—Fearful is the power of self-deception
on the human mind!—
Testimonies for the Church 4:88
(1876).
Mind Has Power to Discriminate—The human mind is endowed
with power to discriminate between right and wrong. God designs
that men shall not decide from impulse, but from weight of evidence,
carefully comparing scripture with scripture. Had the Jews laid by
their prejudice and compared written prophecy with the facts character-
izing the life of Jesus, they would have perceived a beautiful harmony
between the prophecies and their fulfillment in the life and ministry of
the lowly Galilean.—
The Desire of Ages, 458
(1898).
Disciplined Minds Have Increased Powers of Retention—
Habits of negligence should be resolutely overcome. Many think