The Three Essentials by Edith M. Graham

Review and Herald Publishing Association · Takoma Park Station, Washington, D. C. · Nov 30, 1916

The Three Essentials

By Edith M. Graham

THERE are three things essential to the growth and development of a healthy body—air, food, exercise. The body can live only a few minutes without air, and a limited number of days without food. It can live longer without exercise, but will eventually yield to the resulting weakness.

There are likewise three essentials for the soul:—

1. Prayer. “Let the soul be drawn out and upward, that God may grant us a breath of the heavenly atmosphere. We may keep so near to God that in every unexpected trial our thoughts will turn to him as naturally as the flower turns to the sun.”—“Steps to Christ,” p. 104.

2. Bible study. “Fill the whole heart with the words of God. They are the living water, quenching your burning thirst. They are the living bread from heaven. Jesus declares, ‘Except ye eat the flesh of the Son of man, and drink his blood, ye have no life in you.’ And he explains himself by saying, ‘The words that I speak unto you, they are spirit, and they are life.’ Our bodies are built up from what we eat and drink; and as in the natural economy, so in the spiritual economy; it is what we meditate upon that will give tone and strength to our spiritual nature.”—Id., p. 93.

3. Missionary work. “The only way to grow in grace is to be disinterestedly doing the very work which Christ has enjoined upon us,—to engage, to the extent of our ability, in helping and blessing those who need the help we can give them. Strength comes by exercise; activity is the very condition of life. Those who endeavor to maintain Christian life by passively accepting the blessings that come through the means of grace, and doing nothing for Christ, are simply trying to live by eating without working. And in the spiritual, as in the natural world, this always results in degeneration and decay. A man who would refuse to exercise his limbs would soon lose all power to use them. Thus the Christian who will not exercise his God-given powers, not only fails to grow up into Christ, but he loses the strength that he already had.”—Id., p. 85.

In these three things we have the secret of a victorious Christian life. If any one of the three is neglected, spiritual declension will be the result. Most people realize the truth of this as far as the first two essentials are concerned. They know that without prayer and Bible study, they will fall away from Christ. But few realize that work for souls is just as necessary to their spiritual life. They are content to attend meetings, pay tithes, and make offerings, and in other respects to busy themselves with the ordinary affairs of life, much as the people of the world do. They feel no burden for the perishing souls around them, and never think of doing anything to make known to them God’s last warning message. Such people are in a dangerous condition. Of them it is said:—

“Many who profess to be Christians neglect the claims of God, and yet they do not feel that in this there is any wrong. They know that the blasphemer, the murderer, the adulterer, deserves punishment; but as for them, they enjoy the services of religion. They love to hear the gospel preached, and therefore they think themselves Christians. Though they have spent their lives in caring for themselves, they will be as much surprised as was the unfaithful servant in the parable to hear the sentence, ‘Take the talent from him.’ Like the Jews, they mistake the enjoyment of their blessings for the use they should make of them.”—“Christ’s Object Lessons,” p. 265.

It will be seen from this that it is not enough to receive and enjoy the blessings of the gospel. They must be used for the benefit of others. Some hold back because they think themselves unable to do acceptable work, but this is no excuse.

“Many who excuse themselves from Christian effort plead their inability for the work. But did God make them so incapable?—No, never. This inability has been produced by their own inactivity, and perpetuated by their deliberate choice. Already, in their own characters, they are realizing the result of the sentence, ‘Take the talent from him.’ The continual misuse of their talents will effectually quench for them the Holy Spirit, which is the only light. The sentence, ‘Cast ye the unprofitable servant into outer darkness,’ sets Heaven’s seal to the choice which they themselves have made for eternity.”—Id.

It is evident that it is by our self-denying works for the souls of others that we show what choice we have made for eternity. It is our activity in this work that affords the outward evidence of the real condition of our hearts. This is a serious matter, in regard to which each member should carefully examine himself, lest he be deceived by the enemy. All who feel no burden to take part in God’s closing work need earnestly to seek the Lord for a revival of their spiritual life. —EDITH M. GRAHAM.