Overeating and Control of Appetite
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for them. “As it was in the days of Noah, so shall it be also in the
days of the Son of man.” They were eating and drinking, planting and
building, marrying and giving in marriage, and knew not until the day
that Noah entered into the ark, and the flood came and swept them
all away. The day of God will find men absorbed in like manner in
the business and pleasures of the world, in feasting and gluttony, and
in indulging perverted appetite in the defiling use of liquor, and the
narcotic tobacco. This is already the condition of our world, and these
indulgences are found even among God’s professed people, some of
whom are following the customs and partaking of the sins of the world.
Lawyers, mechanics, farmers, traders, and even ministers from the
pulpit, are crying, “Peace and safety,” when destruction is fast coming
upon them.
Testimonies for the Church 4:416-417
Our preachers are not particular enough in regard to their habits of
eating. They partake of too large quantities of food, and of too great
a variety at one meal. Some are reformers only in name. They have
no rules by which to regulate their diet, but indulge in eating fruit or
nuts between their meals, and thus impose too heavy burdens upon
the digestive organs. Some eat three meals a day, when two would
be more conducive to physical and spiritual health. If the laws which
God has made to govern the physical system are violated, the penalty
must surely follow.
Because of imprudence in eating, the senses of some seem to be
half paralyzed, and they are sluggish and sleepy. These pale-faced
ministers who are suffering in consequence of selfish indulgence of
the appetite, are no recommendation of health reform. When suffering
from overwork, it would be much better to drop out a meal occasionally,
and thus give nature a chance to rally. Our laborers could do more by
their example to advance health reform than by preaching it. When
elaborate preparations are made for them by well-meaning friends,
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they are strongly tempted to disregard principle; but by refusing the
dainty dishes, the rich condiments, the tea and coffee, they may prove
themselves to be practical health reformers. Some are now suffering
in consequence of transgressing the laws of life, thus causing a stigma
to rest on the cause of health reform.