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True Religion Promotes Health, November 10
[Wisdom’s] ways are ways of pleasantness, and all her paths are peace.
Proverbs 3:17
.
This world is not all sorrow and misery. “God is love” is written upon every
opening bud, upon the petals of every flower, and upon every spire of grass.
Though the curse of sin has caused the earth to bring forth thorns and thistles,
there are flowers upon the thistles and the thorns are hidden by roses. All things
in nature testify to the tender, fatherly care of our God and to His desire to make
His children happy. His prohibitions and injunctions are not intended merely to
display His authority, but in all that He does He has the well-being of His children
in view. He does not require them to give up anything that it would be for their
best interest to retain.
The opinion which prevails in some classes of society, that religion is not
conducive to health or to happiness in this life, is one of the most mischievous of
errors. The Scripture says: “The fear of the Lord tendeth to life: and he that hath
it shall abide satisfied” (
Proverbs 19:23
). “What man is he that desireth life, and
loveth many days, that he may see good? Keep thy tongue from evil, and thy lips
from speaking guile. Depart from evil, and do good; seek peace, and pursue it”
(
Psalm 34:12-14
). The words of wisdom “are life unto those that find them, and
health to all their flesh” (
Proverbs 4:22
).
True religion brings man into harmony with the laws of God, physical, mental,
and moral. It teaches self-control, serenity, temperance. Religion ennobles the
mind, refines the taste, and sanctifies the judgment. It makes the soul a partaker
of the purity of heaven. Faith in God’s love and overruling providence lightens
the burdens of anxiety and care. It fills the heart with joy and contentment in the
highest or the lowliest lot. Religion tends directly to promote health, to lengthen
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life, and to heighten our enjoyment of all its blessings. It opens to the soul a
never-failing fountain of happiness. Would that all who have not chosen Christ
might realize that He has something vastly better to offer them than they are
seeking for themselves....
There is an intimate relation between the mind and the body, and in order to
reach a high standard of moral and intellectual attainment the laws that control our
physical being must be heeded. To secure a strong, well-balanced character, both
the mental and the physical powers must be exercised and developed. What study
can be more important ... than that which treats of this wonderful organism that
God has committed to us, and of the laws by which it may be preserved in health?
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