p. 12 | THE HARVEST OF HEALTH by David Paulson, M.D.

Pacific Press Publishing Company · Oakland, California · Aug 16, 1899

FromSigns of the Times, Vol. 25, No. 33.

THE HARVEST OF HEALTH.

By David Paulson, M.D.

THE normal condition of all God's creation is health, not disease; until sin came into the world there was no such thing as sickness. The nearer we get into harmony with God, the nearer will we approach that condition. The whole idea in getting a sick person well is to get him into harmony with God, but the usual plan is to give him drugs, which will make him feel better, when he is really worse.

Let me illustrate the folly of that. Suppose I take a little child and lift it high into the air. A child may think that it is as tall as I am, but is it?—No, as soon as I put it down again it is the same as it was before. So when people indulge in stimulating drugs, they may feel for a little time as if they had reached the summit of health, but soon there comes a letting down, and then they are worse than they were before. How is the child to get to be as tall as I am?—By growing; and in the same way the sick man is to be restored to his health. He has to plant good seed, and then give it time to develop, and the harvest will be sure.

An acute disease is generally cured as soon as the cause is removed, but a chronic disease is not cured so promptly. It comes as a result of a persistent course of evil-doing, and can usually be removed only by a persistent course of right living.

Some one asks whether people have to work as long to get their health back as they did to secure disease. Does it not take as long to raise a crop of wheat as to raise a crop of tares?—Yes, but God is very merciful, He is continually trying to build us up and strengthen us. He says, "Turn ye, turn ye, for why will you die?" When we have wholly submitted ourselves to God's law, it is wonderful how rapidly health returns.

A sick man is like a heavily-loaded wagon going uphill with the wheels locked, adding to its burden. He is like a child digging his heels into the carpet while his mother is trying to lead him across the floor. He is like these things because he is usually resisting the efforts of nature to make him well.

I recall a striking instance of this kind. A man who had had Bright's disease for many years, and had made a fairly good recovery by a strict diet and conscientious adherence to health principles, one day yielded to appetite, and ate something which he ought not to have eaten and which he knew would hurt him. The punishment was immediate; his kidneys became paralyzed—went on a strike—and the man was dead in less than thirty-six hours, in spite of the best medical attendance. Had he been true to principle and refrained from eating that which he knew was not for his good, he might have lived for a long time.

When a man can get hold of the thought that God is working in him and trying to make him well, and can be induced to co-operate with Him in an intelligent way, that removes the locks from the wheels of life, and lessens the burden placed on nature.

One thing is essential in order to make a good recovery, and that is for the man to dedicate himself wholly to God, and resolve to use the strength that he may regain in God's service. Under these conditions, most remarkable recoveries are made, for there is wonderful power locked up in the simple remedies used, when God has a chance to impart the fulness of His blessings.

DAVID PAULSON, M.D.