Godliness and Health
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remembrance of them from the earth. The righteous cry, and the Lord
heareth, and delivereth them out of all their troubles.”
Psalm 34:12-17
.
Rightdoing the Best Medicine
The consciousness of rightdoing is the best medicine for diseased
bodies and minds. The special blessing of God resting upon the re-
ceiver is health and strength. One whose mind is quiet and satisfied in
God is on the highway to health. To have the consciousness that the
eye of the Lord is upon us, and that His ear is open to our prayers, is
a satisfaction indeed. To know that we have a never-failing Friend to
whom we can confide all the secrets of the soul, is a happiness which
words can never express. Those whose moral faculties are clouded by
disease are not the ones to rightly represent the Christian life or the
beauties of holiness. They are too often in the fire of fanaticism or the
water of cold indifference or stolid gloom.
Those who do not feel that it is a religious duty to discipline the
mind to dwell upon cheerful subjects, will usually be found at one
of two extremes: they will be elated by a continual round of exciting
amusements, indulging in frivolous conversation, laughing and joking,
or they will be depressed, having great trials and mental conflicts,
which they think but few have ever experienced or can understand.
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These persons may profess Christianity, but they deceive their own
souls....
Idleness and Despondency
Despondent feelings are frequently the result of too much leisure.
The hands and mind should be occupied in useful labor, lightening
the burdens of others; and those who are thus employed will benefit
themselves also. Idleness gives time to brood over imaginary sorrows;
and frequently those who do not have real hardships and trials, will
borrow them from the future.
There is much deception carried on under the cover of religion.
Passion controls the minds of many who have become depraved in
thought and feeling in consequence of “pride, fullness of bread, and
abundance of idleness.”
Ezekiel 16:49
. These deceived souls flatter
themselves that they are spiritually minded and especially consecrated,