Abundance
Abundance
God’s Temple
“Exercise should be taken, not in play and amusement merely to please self, but exercise that will teach the science of doing good. There is a science in the use of the hand. Students who think that education consists only in book study never make a right use of their hands. They should be taught to do the work that thousands of hands are never educated to do. The powers thus developed and cultivated can be most usefully employed. In the cultivation of the soil, in building houses, in studying and planning various methods of labor, the brain must be exercised, and students can apply themselves to much better purpose when a portion of their time is devoted to physical taxation, wearying the muscles. Nature will then give sweet repose.
Students, your life is God's property. He has entrusted it to you, that you may honor and glorify him. You are the Lord's; for he created you. You are his by redemption; for he gave his life for you. The only begotten Son of God paid the ransom for your deliverance from Satan; and for his sake you should appreciate every power, every organ, every sinew and muscle. Preserve every portion of the living machinery, that you may use it for God. Preserve it for him. Your health depends upon the right use of your physical organism. Do not misuse any portion of your God-given powers, physical, mental, or moral. All your habits are to be brought under the control of a mind that is itself under the control of God.
If young men and women would grow up to the full stature of Christ Jesus, they must treat themselves intelligently. Conscientiousness in methods of education is as essential as in the consideration of the doctrines of our faith. Unhealthful habits of every order -- late hours at night, late hours in bed in the morning, rapid eating -- are to be overcome. Masticate your food thoroughly. Let there be no hurried eating. Have your room well ventilated day and night, and perform useful physical labor. Tightlacing is a sin, and will bring its sure results. The lungs, the liver, and the heart need all the room the Lord has provided for them. Your Creator understood how much room the heart and liver require in order to act their part in the human organism. Let not Satan tempt you to crowd the delicate organs, so that they shall be trammeled in their work. Do not, because the fashion of this degenerate world requires it, so crowd the life forces that they will have no freedom. Satan suggested all such fashions, that the human family might suffer the sure results of abusing God's handiwork.
All this must be a part of the education received in school; for we are God's property. The sacred temple of the body must be kept pure and uncontaminated, that God's Holy Spirit may dwell therein. We need to guard faithfully the Lord's property; for any abuse of our powers shortens the time that our lives could be used for the glory of God. Bear in mind that we must consecrate all--soul, body, and spirit--to God. All is his purchased possession, and must be used intelligently, to the end that we may preserve the talent of life. By properly using our powers to their fullest extent in the most useful employment, by keeping every organ in health, by so preserving every organ that mind, sinew, and muscle shall work harmoniously, we may do the most precious service for God.”
YI, April 7, 1898