p. 923 | A VITAL QUESTION by William P. Pearce

Seventh-day Adventist Publishing Association · Battle Creek, Mich. · May 22, 1900

A VITAL QUESTION.

By William P. Pearce

WILLIAM P. PEARCE. (Goshen, Ind.)

The usurper and hypocritical Joab when meeting General Amasa allowed his dagger to fall out of its sheath. Snatching it up quickly and with the words: “Art thou in health, my brother?” he buries the naked knife in his body under the fifth rib. 2 Sam. 20:9.

HEALTH.

“Art thou in health?” This is a vital question which should concern all of us. It is the—

“Chiefest good Bestow’d by heaven, but seldom understood.”

What is health? It is not man at his best, for at the best he may be an invalid. The definition of character is widely different from the definition of health. Health is “a sound and healthy state of all parts of an organized being, when all the organs perform their natural functions freely and properly.” Please note the words: “sound;” “all parts;” “all the organs;” “perform;” “freely and properly.” Health is humanity’s fortune, so freely squandered and so hard to regain. Few there are who enjoy it, and those few are the careful who watch over it as the capitalist does his largest investments. A good recipe for health: Prov. 3:7, 8.

HOW TO SECURE AND KEEP HEALTH.

A common remark often heard is, “People are getting weaker and wiser.” In some respects this is true; in others, false. Few people exist but who have some ailments, which, in spite of knowledge, they persist in feeding because of the pleasant sensations derived. The wise are the careful; the careful, the strong. In order to secure and keep health, let us notice five necessary things:—

First, Cleanliness. If the adage “Cleanliness is next to godliness,” is an unbiblical quotation, it has, nevertheless, much truth in it. Spurgeon said there were three D’s he shunned: “Dirt, debt, and the devil.” Dirt is the breeding pen of disease. It creeps from one’s clothes into one’s brain; it will work from under his finger nails into his thoughts; it will assassinate virtue, and convert a home into a malarious pest-house. Just as wheat can not grow in blazing deserts, or oranges and pineapples ripen beside arctic icebergs, no more can a good constitution with good thoughts and lofty aspirations flourish in dirt or dirty surroundings. The secret of gospel cleanliness is in John 15:3.

Second, Temperance. Gluttony is little better than drunkenness. The kinds of food, irrespective of their acidity or sweetness, the methods of cooking until the nutriment has been destroyed, and the indulgence practiced at dinners and banquets, are nothing less than dissipation. Just as the toper wants the throat of a giraffe to taste the beverage a long way down, too many whose “god is their stomach,” remind me of the boy who was told to wish for something and he would get it. “A box of chocolates,” said the boy. “What else?” asked the generous friend. “Another box of chocolates.” “Oh, but wish for something else. Your little stomach could n't hold all those chocolates.” “Well, then,” answered the boy, “another stomach.” It is true, the way some people eat and drink, they want another stomach, and it is a fact that by and by they will need one, if they don’t want it. Benjamin Franklin said: “Be sober and temperate, and you will be healthy.” See what Paul says to back up the assertion in 1 Cor. 9:25.

Third, Abstinence. Ten years ago medical statistics showed that eighty-one per cent of the adult population of the United States were suffering from dyspepsia. To-day the record states ninety-four per cent. Think of it! What is the cause?—Ravenous and careless eating as regards what, when, and where.

Dyspepsia is the disease that is destroying the life of ninety per cent of our people in some form or other, just as the minute worms of East Africa drill holes through the casks of oil and extracts, thereby robbing them of their precious liquids. Think of it! Thousands crippled physically and morally when they should be in the prime of life, and thousands ruined by religious controversies and errors, which, if Beecher is to be believed, have their origin in indigestion. What is the cause? I ask again. Stuff like tobacco; narcotics like coffee and tea; astringents like pepper, mustard, and vinegar; diseased stale meats; late suppers; “death-in-the-pot” banquets, which make the throat a sewerage pipe and the stomach a charnel house. Would to God all would abstain as Paul suggests (Acts 15:29), and feed upon the True Bread. John 6:22.

Fourth, Exercise. An athlete is usually quick, strong, upright. Not that he was so born, or grew thus as a poplar beside the river bank; but because he has so trained himself. He runs, he works, he walks, with shoulders thrown back. Said Aleyn:—

“No body’s healthful without exercise: Just wars are exercises of a state: Virtue’s in motion, and contends to rise, With generous ascents above a mate.”

More exercise means less consumptives; more exercise, less bent backs, or round shoulders, or lazy gaits. Gladstone knew the worth of it when he resorted to the ax. The Sanitarium physicians know the good derived from it when they order one to the gymnasium, or to the lake to row, or to the saddle to ride, or to the open air to walk and run. Fresh air, by the way, is one of the best tonics in God’s medical laboratory. “What a blessed thing to breathe the fresh air,” said Count Struerisee, on quitting his dungeon to be led to the place of execution. Open-air exercise is like fuel thrown under the boiler,—it increases the power and pressure of life’s steam. Get all you can, but in getting it, do not fail to exercise as God would have you do. Eccl. 9:10; 1 Cor. 10:31.

Fifth, Rest. Underresting is as bad as underexercising. Weary brains, tired muscles, strained eyes, need rest. Rest is called by Plutarch “the sweet sauce of labor.” In India the natives have the “rest stones,” where the weary traveler can rest his burden. A quiet retreat, an easy chair, a couch, or bed are good things for a “breathing spell.” To lie down, however, relaxing every muscle and closing the eyes, is much better. Every woman should aim daily to have a rest hour, and every person should bear in mind that God made the night, not for dissipation or pleasure, but for rest. But the best rest that the writer knows of is found in Matt. 11:28.

WHAT HEALTH BRINGS.

Money carefully invested brings revenue. “Unto every one which hath shall be given” (Luke 19:26) is the law of compound interest. A little learning, rightly used, brings culture; a grain of wisdom carefully sown brings satisfaction; an unselfish action in the name of Jesus brings a dividend on the morn when men shall be rewarded according to their works (Rev. 20:12), and health brings what?—Out of the many things there are two that make life worth living:—

First, Happiness. There may not be an abundance of this world’s goods, and if there were, happiness does not make them its foundation. Without health the palace is a prison, existence a curse, the gorgeous earth a Golgotha, and life an era of despondency. With health there’s music in the rattle of machinery, the beauty of God is seen everywhere, and living becomes enchanting. Why?—Because the stomach promptly digests the right kind of food, the rich blood carries its nourishment to the organs, nerves, muscles, and tissues, as they need it, and the brain creates inspiring thoughts. Such an existence leads to the life Paul mentions. Gal. 2:20.

Second, Hope. The Arabian proverb says: “He who has health has hope, and he who has hope has everything.” Ruined bodies have curtained windows to their souls, and the sun always shines behind somber clouds. But with health there is hope, which “springs immortal in the human breast.”

To the healthy, hope is the pinions which aid the individual to rise above annoying circumstances and cry, “Victory;” it is the fins which assist the individual to swim through seas of trouble; it is the unseen electric power which casts light in dark places, gives locomotion to hand and foot; which gives endurance to the soldier, fortitude to the laboring man, and stimulates the persevering to cry, “It shall be done.” The best hope, however, is found in Ps. 42:5.

HOW TO USE HEALTH.

If there are misers of gold, there are misers of health. That is, they hoard it up, and in its use have a selfish motive. Many a man would rather tramp ten miles to shoot an innocent rabbit, or kill a pretty songster, than walk a mile to minister to another’s need. Many a woman would rather go to a ball with insufficient clothing, waltz for hours in a stifled room, and walk home afterward in the bitter cold, than do an errand for Jesus or wait on the ministrations of his Word. Such is the abuse rather than the use of health. Health is given for service. It is a blessing bestowed that the recipient might be able to aid others who have it not. It should be an evidence of what God can do (Ex. 15:26), and it should be used judiciously, practically, and always for the Master’s glory. God wishes us to be strong. Jer. 30:7. John wished Gaius health (3 John 2), and in the midst of disease and death I exhort you—

“Talk health. The dreary, never-changing tale Of mortal maladies is worn and stale. You can not charm, or interest, or please, By harping on that minor chord, disease. Say you are well, or all is well with you, And God shall hear your words and make them true.”