“December 10, 1871, I was again shown that the HEALTH REFORM is one branch of the great work which is TO FIT A PEOPLE FOR THE COMING OF THE LORD. It is as closely connected with the third angel’s message as the hand is with the body.” ~ Testemonies for the Church 3:161, 162
“Those who proclaim the ( 3rd) message should teach health reform also. It is a subject that we must understand, in order to be prepared for the events that are close upon us, and it should have a prominent place.” ~Testimony Studies on Diet and Foods, 87,5
The Bible reveals that at every major point in the history of salvation, God in love informed His people of His plans. Throughout the ages they have found comfort in His promise, “”Surely the Lord God will do nothing, but he revealeth his secret unto his servants the prophets” (Amos 3:7).
Ellen White recalled in 1897 “I have had great light from the Lord upon the subject of health reform……I did not seek this light; I did not study to obtain it; it was given to me by the Lord to give to others.”
Friday evening, June 5, 1863, in the house of A. Hilliard at Otsego, Michigan, United States, Ellen White received the first vision on “the great subject of Health Reform.” She was asked to offer the opening Sabbath prayer, during which she received a 45-minute vision. I believe that it was God’s choice to communicate at such a specific time, the Sabbath time. I believe it was intentional of God. The third angel’s message can be found in Revelation 14:9-12. It represents the people who accept the light of God’s messages and go forth as His agents to sound the solemn warning throughout the earth against observance of Sunday as a sacred day. The Third Angel’s Message demands a decision, so is The Health Message requires for us to make a choice and remember these two messages closely connected, as the hand is with the body. We can accept it or reject it. The obligation to obey is always a voluntary thing with God.
As Christians, we are confident about the return of Jesus. He will come soon. But what does it really mean “to fit” for Christ’s return? What does it mean “to be prepared for the events that are close on us”? Is there any indication that we need to make special preparations for it beyond expressing faith and love in the Lord Jesus Christ?
While we do not earn salvation by our obedience, for salvation is the free gift of God to be received by faith, obedience is the fruit of faith. And God holds up before us as a high standard—perfect obedience to His laws.
WHAT LAWS?
I am sure every true believer in Christ who knows the truth is aware of the obligation to keep Gods’s moral law, His 10 commandments. But how many professed Christians do not know that it is a religious duty to obey God’s laws of nature – His 8 principles that govern our being, in order to preserve and promote physical health?
In Christ’s Object Lessons, (p. 347, 348 ) we read “God is as truly the author of physical laws as He is author of the moral law. His law is written with His own finger upon every nerve, every muscle, every faculty, which has been entrusted to man.”
“Our Creator is Jesus Christ. He is the Author of our being. He has created the human structure. He is the Author of physical laws as He is the Author of the moral law. And human beings who are careless and reckless of the habits and practices that concern their physical life and health sin against God.“~The Kress Collection, 45, 46
“It is as truly a sin to violate the laws of our being as it is to break the ten commandments. To do either is to break God’s laws. Those who transgress the law of God in their physical organism, will be inclined to violate the law of God spoken from Sinai.“ ~Counsels on Diet and Foods 17.4
But why? Because violating God’s physical laws shortens the period of time in which our lives can be used to glorify God. And “it unfits us to accomplish the work God has given us to do.”
How necessary, then, that the knowledge of these natural laws should be imparted in the mind of the believer?
Most of us today disregard or take lightly this “love letter from Christ – His Health Reform Message and as the result, it has very little impact on our day-to-day living. Our lives are filled with our daily routine, jobs, plans, projects, and aspirations, trying to fulfill our dreams for the future. General feeling developed in many of our churches that, as long as you love the Lord, regularly attend church, pay your tithe, respect the Sabbath, assist from time to time with church work, and do not do anything really “bad,” Jesus will take care of you and you will be all right when He returns.
The question is, can we really afford to disregard His specified laws for the human body without suffering the consequences? Today many of our suffering are the results of hurtful practices.
Proverbs 26:2 “..the curse causeless shall not come.” Another words there’s no sickness, no cause that comes without a reason. Where there’s a cause, there would be an effect. What we sow, that we’ll reap.
“The Lord has made it a part of his plan that man’s reaping shall be according to his sowing. And this is the explanation of the misery and suffering in our world, which is charged back upon God. “~ Healthful Living, 25
But how can we possibly blame God, knowing that it is His will for us to “prosper and be in health” (3 John 1:2) and knowing that there’s a health message that He gave us for our good always?
We are God’s workmanship, and His Word declares that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made.” And He has prepared this living habitation for the MIND. The mind that is “curiously wrought.” And the mind is designed to control the body.
“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. ~39 Patriarchs and Prophets, 601
Exercised and developed! It means that Health requires work. It takes efforts to obtain knowledge that can help us to correct our errors. Health may be earned by proper habits of life. And remember, habits also form the character. All our actions, good or bad, have their source in the MIND. It is the mind that worships God. Therefore the battle is for your mind!!
Since the mind connects to the body and the body to the mind, whatever promotes physical health, promotes the development of a strong mind and a well-balanced character.
Romans 12:1-2 1 I beseech you therefore, brethren, by the mercies of God, that ye present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God, which is your reasonable service. 2And be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God.
Another words, shifting your patterns and focus must change your lifestyle by renewing your mind, changing the way you think to create a better life for yourself and a life that honors God.
Yet, “Many, even of those who profess to believe the special truths for this time, are lamentably ignorant with regard to health and temperance. They need to be educated, line upon line, precept upon precept.” Counsels on Health, 499.1
We must get educated because “The health should be as sacredly guarded as the character.”
Stay tuned for the next blog, which will explore the body as incredible structure.
Thanks so much!! :