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Follow the Example Set by the Four Hebrews, October 14
“Then let our countenances be examined before you, and the countenances
of the young men who eat the portion of the king’s delicacies; and as you see
fit, so deal with your servants.” ... And at the end of ten days their
countenance appeared better and fatter in flesh than all the young men who
ate the portion of the king’s delicacies.
Daniel 1:13-15
, NKJV.
“As for these four children, God gave them knowledge and skill in all learning
and wisdom: and Daniel had understanding in all visions and dreams. Now at the
end of the days that the king had said he should bring them in, then the prince of
the eunuchs brought them in before Nebuchadnezzar. And the king communed
with them; and among them all was found none like Daniel, Hananiah, Mishael,
and Azariah: therefore stood they before the king. And in all matters of wisdom
and understanding, that the king inquired of them, he found them ten times better
than all the magicians and astrologers that were in all his realm.”
This record contains much of importance on the subject of health reform. In
the experience of the four Hebrew children a lesson is given regarding the need of
abstaining from all spirituous liquors, and from indulgence of perverted appetite.
The position taken by these Hebrew youth was vindicated, and at the end of ten
days they were found fairer in flesh and better in knowledge than all the rest whom
the king was proving.
In this our day, the Lord would be pleased to have those who are preparing
for the future, immortal life follow the example of Daniel and his companions in
seeking to maintain strength of body and clearness of mind. The more careful we
learn to be in treating our bodies, the more readily shall we be able to escape the
evils that are in the world through lust....
Let us ask, What is the object of true higher education? Is it not that we may
stand in right relation to God? The test of all education should be Is it fitting us
to keep our minds fixed upon the mark of the prize of the high calling of God in
Christ Jesus? ...
We are to learn how to equalize the labor done by brain, bone, and muscle. If
you put to task the faculties of the mind, loading them with heavy burdens, while
you leave the muscles unexercised, this course will tell its story just as surely as the
wise course of the Hebrew youth told its story. Parents should follow a consistent
course in the education of their children. Our youth should be taught from their very
childhood how to exercise the body and the mind proportionately.—
The General
Conference Bulletin, May 30, 1909
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