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Counsels on Health
especially leads and blesses, is to be presented to the people in contrast
to the extravagant, health-destroying habits of those who live in this
degenerate age.
God has shown that health reform is as closely connected with the
third angel’s message as the hand is with the body. There is nowhere to
be found so great a cause of physical and moral degeneracy as a neglect
of this important subject. Those who indulge appetite and passion and
close their eyes to the light for fear they will see sinful indulgences
which they are unwilling to forsake, are guilty before God. Whoever
turns from the light in one instance hardens his heart to disregard the
light upon other matters. Whoever violates moral obligations in the
matter of eating and dressing, prepares the way to violate the claims
of God in regard to eternal interests.
Our bodies are not our own. God has claims upon us to take care of
the habitation He has given us, that we may present our bodies to Him
a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable. Our bodies belong to Him who
made them, and we are in duty bound to become intelligent in regard
to the best means of preserving them from decay. If we enfeeble the
body by self-gratification, by indulging the appetite, and by dressing in
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accordance with health-destroying fashions, in order to be in harmony
with the world, we become enemies of God....
Providence has been leading the people of God out from the ex-
travagant habits of the world, away from the indulgence of appetite
and passion, to take their stand upon the platform of self-denial and
temperance in all things. The people whom God is leading will be pe-
culiar. They will not be like the world. But if they follow the leadings
of God, they will accomplish His purposes, and will yield their will
to His will. Christ will dwell in the heart. The temple of God will be
holy. Your body, says the apostle, is the temple of the Holy Ghost.
God does not require His children to deny themselves to the injury of
physical strength. He requires them to obey natural law, to preserve
physical health. Nature’s path is the road He marks out, and it is broad
enough for any Christian. God has, with a lavish hand, provided us
with rich and varied bounties for our sustenance and enjoyment. But
in order for us to enjoy the natural appetite, which will preserve health
and prolong life, He restricts the appetite. He says, Beware; restrain,
deny, unnatural appetite. If we create a perverted appetite, we violate