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Section 8—Counsels and Cautions
171
Avoid the First Wrong Step
Do not see how close you can walk upon the brink of a precipice,
and be safe. Avoid the first approach to danger. The soul’s interests
cannot be trifled with. Your capital is your character. Cherish it as
you would a golden treasure. Moral purity, self-respect, a strong
power of resistance, must be firmly and constantly cherished. There
should not be one departure from reserve; one act of familiarity,
one indiscretion, may jeopardize the soul, in opening the door to
temptation, and the power of resistance becomes weakened.
The psalmist, when viewing the many snares and temptations to
vice, inquires, “Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way?”
[144]
This question is appropriate for everyone connected with our mis-
sions and every instrumentality of God. At this stage of our work,
the answer comes, “By taking heed thereto according to Thy word.”
It is necessary to maintain a living connection with heaven, seeking
as often as did Daniel—three times a day—for divine grace to resist
appetite and passion. Wrestling with appetite and passion unaided by
divine power will be unsuccessful; but make Christ your stronghold,
and the language of your soul will be, “In all these things we are
more than conquerors through Him that loved us.” Said the apostle
Paul, “I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that
by any means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a
castaway.”
Let no one think he can overcome without the help of God.
You must have the energy, the strength, the power, of an inner
life developed within you. You will then bear fruit unto godliness,
and will have an intense loathing of vice. You need to constantly
strive to work away from earthliness, from cheap conversation, from
everything sensual, and aim for nobility of soul and a pure and
unspotted character. Your name may be kept so pure that it cannot
justly be connected with any thing dishonest or unrighteous, but will
be respected by all the good and pure, and it may be written in the
Lamb’s book of life, to be immortalized among the holy angels.—
Manuscript 4a, 1885.