My Health and Happiness

My Health and Happiness

Guide 22

A visitor touring a state penitentiary saw in one of the shops a prisoner sewing canvas mail bags.

"Sewing?" asked the visitor.

"No, I'm reaping!" the prisoner answered grimly.

"Whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap."—Galatians 6:7.

Sometimes we are tempted to believe that we can cheat nature a bit and get away with it. But what we sow in disobeying the laws of our being, we will surely reap in bad health. And what we sow in obeying the laws of our being, we will reap in good health.

God knows that a healthy body makes it much easier for a man to be a happy Christian. For physical health and spiritual well-being go hand-in-hand.

"Beloved, I wish above all things that thou mayest prosper and be in health, even as thy soul prospereth."—3 John 2.

The mind cannot be fully in tune with God while the body is a slave to unholy habits. Paul therefore makes this strong appeal:

"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."—Romans 12:1.

Obedience to the laws of life, both in the moral and in the physical world, is the very cornerstone of happiness. When Israel was leaving Egypt, God counseled His people:

"IF THOU WILT diligently hearken to the voice of the Lord thy God, and wilt do that which is right in his sight, and wilt GIVE EAR TO HIS COMMANDMENTS, and keep all his statutes, I WILL PUT NONE OF THESE DISEASES UPON THEE, which I have brought upon the Egyptians: for I AM THE LORD THAT HEALETH THEE."—Exodus 15:26.

1. SEVEN WAYS TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS (Part 1 of 3)

Thousands of people each day visit their physicians for advice on how to have good health. They don't say it in these words, but they imply: "Just get me well, Doc, but don't talk to me about the way I live." What people like that are asking is how to feel better and live longer while they go on killing themselves. It just doesn't make sense to expect your doctor to be able to change the body's built-in laws of life to accommodate a suicidal way of living.

Health doesn't happen by chance. The Creator's desire is for us to "be in health." (3 John 2.) A long and happy life results from planned living, designed in harmony with principles which not only prevent illness but also provide right conditions for recovery from disease.

How can we build up and maintain good health? Here are seven laws, or natural remedies, to follow if we really want to find health and happiness.

Pure air. Deep breathing of pure, fresh air is essential to good health. There are fewer bacteria where the air is not contaminated by fumes and poisonous chemicals. Proper ventilation of the home is a "must."

Sunlight. No single factor is so important in sustaining life upon the earth as sunlight. It activates the chlorophyll in plants to produce food. It kills most disease germs. Sunlight may fade the drapery and the carpets in the home, but its life-giving properties bring a healthy glow to the cheeks.

Rest. The human heart may work for a hundred years, but it spends half of its long lifetime at rest. It is true that its rest lasts only a fraction of a second, but it is really relaxed during that time. The spine too needs rest, to enable the discs between the vertebrae to regain their elasticity. Rest is nature's best remedy for the tired mind and body. Time for recreation and rest is essential to relieve the push and drive of work tensions and family responsibilities. Otherwise, through stress and overwork, we will be overtaken by disease and be forced to rest.

1. SEVEN WAYS TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS (Part 2 of 3)

Exercise. Get out and exercise the long muscles. Get those creaky joints working again. There is life and health in regular exercise in the fresh air. The mind is much more efficient when the body is kept in tone by using it wisely and well. Remember, too, that good wholesome exercise is usually the best cure for worry!

Water. Drink plenty of water. It is essential to every cell in the body. It is nature's solvent, the one perfect medium for cleansing, both inside and out. Externally, water can be used in many ways to relieve pain and to check disease. Hot and cold water treatments when properly given are effective means for combating colds and also for helping the body to recover from debilitating illnesses, muscle injuries, and nervous diseases.

Proper diet. Food should be healthful, simple, well prepared, and eaten at regular intervals, without hurrying. Overeating, especially of fats, sweets, and rich foods, leads not only to overweight but also to a number of degenerative diseases.

"Our bodies are built up from the food we eat. There is a constant breaking down of the tissues of the body; every movement of every organ involves waste, and this waste is repaired from our food.

"Those foods should be chosen that best supply the elements needed for building up the body. In this choice, appetite is not a safe guide. Through wrong habits of eating, the appetite has become perverted. Often it demands food that impairs health and causes weakness instead of strength. We can not safely be guided by the customs of society. The disease and suffering that everywhere prevail are largely due to popular errors in regard to diet.

"In order to know what are the best foods, we must study God's original plan for man's diet. . . . Grains, fruits, nuts, and vegetables constitute the diet chosen for us by our Creator."—Ministry of Healing, pages 295, 296.

Trust in divine power. Health is more than just being physically well. Health and happiness depend on the harmonious development of the physical, mental, social, and spiritual phases of man's nature.

1. SEVEN WAYS TO HEALTH AND HAPPINESS (Part 3 of 3)

Trust in divine power is the keystone to living a healthy and happy life. Doctors and nurses may do their best to help nature, but the patient must keep his faith in God if he is to be completely restored. Remember that in spite of every handicap we have a Father in heaven who is waiting to help and to heal. The psalmist speaks of Him as the One "who forgiveth all thine iniquities; who healeth all thy diseases." Psalm 103:3. If we are living in harmony with His will, we may confidently turn to Him for healing. This is the key to prayer and divine healing. God will always hear the prayer of faith.

When you have finished the New Life course, you will want to enroll in the Radiant Health course, which outlines in detail the way to health and happiness.

2. APPETITE THE SUPREME TEST

When, in the beginning, God created Adam and Eve, He made them perfect in physique and in health. Disease was unknown, sickness unheard of. God provided for man's welfare, and instructed him regarding his habits of diet and labor.

As long as man obeyed God's instructions, he never knew sickness, pain, or death. Then Adam and Eve disobeyed God by eating of the forbidden fruit. Their disobedience brought disease and eventually death to man and to the world over which he ruled. (See Genesis 2:15-17.)

Human nature has not changed much through the centuries, except that there is perhaps an even greater disregard for the laws of nature. Today we too often choose our food, not because it is good for us, but because we like the taste of it.

We forget that we belong to God. We are His because He as our Creator gave us life. We are His because Jesus bought us back with His own precious blood. So God has a dual claim upon our minds, souls, and bodies.

"Know ye not that YOUR BODIES ARE THE MEMBERS OF CHRIST? . . . What? know ye not that YOUR BODY IS THE TEMPLE OF THE HOLY GHOST which is in you, which ye have of God, and ye are not your own? For ye are bought with a price: THEREFORE GLORIFY GOD IN YOUR BODY, and in your spirit, which are God's."—1 Corinthians 6:15, 19, 20.

Through the weaknesses of the body Satan may tempt our souls and destroy us.

Here is a Bible rule given to guide the Christian to live a radiant life of health and happiness:

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."—1 Corinthians 10:31.

Taste, appetite, and personal desires are not to be the governing principles of life. Satan tempted Adam and Eve on the point of appetite. When Jesus was preparing for His earthly ministry among men, He too was tempted on the matter of appetite. Adam had failed to meet the test. Jesus met it and was victorious.

"And when the tempter came to him, he said, If thou be the Son of God, command that these stones be made bread. But he answered and said, It is written, MAN SHALL NOT LIVE BY BREAD ALONE, but by every word that proceedeth out of the mouth of God."—Matthew 4:3, 4.

Jesus refused to yield to temptation on the matter of food. He met temptation by clinging to the Word of God. The follower of Jesus will "walk even as he walked." 1 John 2:6. When Jesus lives in us, He will make us victorious over our natural appetites.

3. GOD'S COUNSEL ON DIET AND FOODS

"Eat ye that which is good."—Isaiah 55:2.

Before sin entered our world, Adam and Eve were given a balanced diet of fruits, grains, and nuts. After the entrance of sin, vegetables were added to man's diet. Then, following the Flood, more than 1500 years later, permission was given man to eat the flesh of clean animals such as sheep, cattle, and deer.

When Israel came out of bondage into the land of Canaan, God condemned the eating habits of the heathen world and again commanded His people to eat only clean meats. Read in Leviticus 11 and Deuteronomy 14 the list of birds, beasts, and fish God pronounced unfit for food. According to these chapters, clean animals must divide, or split, the hoof and also chew the cud. Clean fish must have scales and fins. Scavenger birds are forbidden. Among the unclean animals, swine are especially mentioned and condemned.

"And THE SWINE, because it divideth the hoof, yet cheweth not the cud, it is unclean unto you: YE SHALL NOT EAT OF THEIR FLESH, nor touch their dead carcase."—Deuteronomy 14:8.

Scientific research substantiates that God is indeed right in His warning against swine's flesh.

"For more than three decades, health authorities have warned the American public to avoid 'pink pork' and to cook pork thoroughly. Yet the United States continues to have the highest trichinosis rate of any country in the world. This fact was emphasized anew by Dr. S. E. Gould of Eloise, Michigan, reporting last week in the Journal of the American Medical Association. At least 16% of autopsies have revealed pink-pork infection, Gould said. Where autopsy methods are thorough, the percentage has been as high as 36. This painful and sometimes fatal ailment is caused by the tiny worm, trichina, a parasite in live hogs, transmitted to human beings through uncooked [or incompletely cooked] pork. Less than 1/32 of an inch in length, and invisible to the naked eye of both butcher and consumer, trichinae can lurk in any cut of pork from the most expensive loin roast to the more dubious frankfurter. Nor is it any respecter of persons." Newsweek, January 14, 1946, p. 60.

Do these instructions concerning clean and unclean foods apply in New Testament times? The principles of healthful living are not relaxed with time. Rather, because of increasing disease in the animal kingdom, it is constantly necessary to place greater safeguards around our diet and habits of living. The polluted waters of today make fish and other water creatures more dangerous than ever as food. Animals and poultry are increasingly subject to diseases detrimental to human health. Because of this, a vegetarian diet is becoming popular.

That the unclean creatures rejected by the Bible as food sources are still unclean is evident from what the Word of God says regarding those who persist in their use. The prophet, speaking of the second coming of Jesus Christ in the clouds of heaven in the last days, says:

"For, behold, THE LORD WILL COME with fire, and with his chariots like a whirlwind, to render his anger with fury, and his rebuke with flames of fire. For by fire and by his sword will the Lord plead with all flesh: and the slain of the Lord shall be many. THEY THAT SANCTIFY THEMSELVES, and purify themselves in the gardens behind one tree in the midst, EATING SWINE'S FLESH, AND THE ABOMINATION, AND THE MOUSE, SHALL BE CONSUMED TOGETHER, saith the Lord."—Isaiah 66:15-17.

Whatever injures the body and endangers health dishonors God.

"Whether therefore ye eat, or drink, or whatsoever ye do, do all to the glory of God."—1 Corinthians 10:31.

4. SHOULD THE CHRISTIAN USE STIMULANTS AND NARCOTICS? (Part 1 of 3)

Where should the Christian stand in relation to the use of stimulants, narcotics, tobacco, and alcohol? Shall we be governed by our tastes and appetites or by the Word of God? God asks the Christian not only to surrender his heart, but also to dedicate his mind and body as "a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God." When a young man, Daniel refused foods and drink which would be harmful to his body. We are admonished:

"But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king's meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself."—Daniel 1:8.

God rewarded Daniel for his loyalty to principle. (See Daniel 1:9-20.)

Intoxicants: The Bible openly condemns the use of alcoholic beverages.

"Wine is a mocker, strong drink is raging: and whosoever is deceived thereby is not wise."—Proverbs 20:1.

"WOE UNTO THEM THAT rise up early in the morning, that they may FOLLOW STRONG DRINK; that continue until night, till wine inflame them!"—Isaiah 5:11.

The Bible warns those who provide intoxicants for others:

"Woe unto him that giveth his neighbour drink, that puttest thy bottle to him, and makest him drunken also."—Habakkuk 2:15.

"Beverage alcohol is consumed mainly for its narcotizing effects on the brain, and its effect in all concentrations is always that of a depressant narcotic drug. In short, alcohol is 'dope.' "—Robert E. Corradini, Narcotics Research and Youth Today (New York: Foundation for Narcotics Research and Information), p. 37.

No one who defiles his body with these things has any inheritance in the kingdom of heaven. Says the apostle:

"Nor thieves, nor covetous, NOR DRUNKARDS, nor revilers, nor extortioners, shall inherit the kingdom of God."—1 Corinthians 6:10.

"There shall in no wise enter . . . ANY THING THAT DEFILETH, neither whatsoever worketh abomination, or maketh a lie: but they which are written in the Lamb's book of life."—Revelation 21:27.

Tobacco. Science condemns tobacco as a killer, a substance that defiles the body. Scientific research has established the causal relationship between tobacco and lung cancer, emphysema, heart disease, and other ills.

In a leaflet, "Smoke Cigarettes? Why?" the American Cancer Society reveals these facts about cigarettes:

4. SHOULD THE CHRISTIAN USE STIMULANTS AND NARCOTICS? (Part 2 of 3)

"The greatest single cause of preventable death in the United States today is cigarette smoking. One out of every seven deaths in our country this year will be caused by cigarette smoking. . . . Cigarette smoking is not a gamble. Every smoker is injured, though not to the same degree. Smoking kills some, makes others severely and chronically ill, gives smokers far more than their share of illness and loss of work days. On the average, the heavy smoker (two or more packs a day) smokes about three-quarters of a million cigarettes during his lifetime. As a result, he loses about 4.4 million minutes (8.3 years) of life, compared with nonsmokers. This is a loss of nearly six minutes per cigarette smoked: a minute of life for a minute of smoking!"

The narcotic action of tobacco creates a habit which is difficult for a man to break in his own strength. But when the user turns to the Lord Jesus Christ who came to save him from his sins, victory is his. The Saviour desires to free us from every wrong habit, for He wants us to have a radiant religion of good health.

Tea, coffee, and cola drinks. The very fact that it is difficult to give up the use of stimulating beverages should warn us that they are habit-forming. The stimulant effect is a result of the drug theine in tea and of the caffeine in coffee and cola drinks.

"The New York Life Extension Institute reveals that out of many thousands of men examined by the institute, 'the excessive use of alcohol was considered to be responsible for seven per cent of the physical impairments, while coffee and tea were assigned as a cause of forty per cent of these ailments and impairments.' "—Fisher and Fiske, How to Live, pp. 78, 79.

Do people who follow definite principles of health live longer than the average population? When considering changing one's habits of life, this is a logical question to ask.

4. SHOULD THE CHRISTIAN USE STIMULANTS AND NARCOTICS? (Part 3 of 3)

A research project was done in California over a period of ten years by the Department of Preventive Medicine, Loma Linda University. It consisted of examining the causes of death among 57,000 Seventh-day Adventists who followed certain health principles, and then comparing these death rates with a control group of 57,000 from the general population of the State of California.

The groups were matched exactly as to age, sex, race, geographical location, and occupation, so that health habits constituted the only significant difference between the two groups.

If Seventh-day Adventists die from the same diseases as the control group, then they should die at the same rate as well. The following is a summary of the deaths in the two groups during the ten-year period under study.

Health principles of Seventh-day Adventists include abstinence from smoking, and from drinking alcohol, coffee, cola drinks, and tea. A large share also practice vegetarianism, and all refrain from eating flesh foods designated as "unclean" in the Levitical laws. And Seventh-day Adventists have a 5- to 6-year greater life expectancy than the general population. It makes a difference how we live.

5. VICTORY IN CHRIST.

God calls for temperate habits in the life of the Christian. Christianity is the most practical, reasonable religion in all the world. It changes men — their thinking, their acting. It is a new life-style! The Christian places a consecrated will in control of the appetites of his body. The Christian attitude is that of Paul:

"But I keep under my body, and bring it into subjection: lest that by any means, . . . I myself should be a castaway."—1 Corinthians 9:27.

When we are born again, the mind and the will are controlled by the Holy Spirit.

"Therefore, brethren, we are debtors, not to the flesh, to live after the flesh. For if ye live after the flesh, ye shall die: but if ye THROUGH THE SPIRIT DO MORTIFY THE DEEDS OF THE BODY, ye shall live."—Romans 8:12, 13.

Christians who live by the Word of God and have the presence of the Holy Spirit in their lives will, through the power of Christ, conquer every sin against the body. They will surrender every appetite and habit that is detrimental to the radiant religion of good health. Preparation for heaven means becoming like Jesus.

"Beloved, now are we the sons of God, and it doth not yet appear what we shall be: but we know that, WHEN HE SHALL APPEAR, WE SHALL BE LIKE HIM; for we shall see him as he is. AND EVERY MAN THAT HATH THIS HOPE IN HIM PURIFIETH HIMSELF, even as he is pure."—1 John 3:2, 3.

In an evangelistic service a young couple listened to the speaker present these straightforward Bible truths. Convicted that they should change their habits of life, they said to the minister after the service: "We believe the Bible and want to clean up our lives. We want to give up our cocktails, our cigarettes, and every habit that you have shown us to be injurious to our bodies. Pastor, will you pray for us?"

The minister prayed. Then he helped them to pray.

Dear Father in heaven: Help us to walk even as Jesus walked, in holiness and purity. Give us Your grace to surrender every hurtful thing in our daily living. In our own strength we can do nothing. But, Father, we do love You and we want to be like You. Please give us Your strength to overcome our appetites. We ask it in Jesus' name. Amen.