Control of Appetite
129
Relation of Habits to Sanctification
254. It is impossible for any to enjoy the blessing of sanctification
while they are selfish and gluttonous. These groan under a burden
of infirmities because of wrong habits of eating and drinking, which
do violence to the laws of life and health. Many are enfeebling their
digestive organs by indulging perverted appetite. The power of the
human constitution to resist the abuses put upon it is wonderful; but
persistent wrong habits in excessive eating and drinking will enfeeble
every function of the body. Let these feeble ones consider what they
might have been, had they lived temperately, and promoted health
instead of abusing it. In the gratification of perverted appetite and
passion, even professed Christians cripple nature in her work and
lessen physical, mental, and moral power. Some who are doing this,
claim to be sanctified to God; but such a claim is without foundation....
“A son honoreth his father, and a servant his master; if then I be a
Father, where is Mine honor? and if I be a Master, where is My fear?
saith the Lord of hosts unto you, O priests, that despise My name. And
ye say, Wherein have we despised Thy name? Ye offer polluted bread
upon Mine altar; and ye say, Wherein have we polluted Thee? In that
ye say, The table of the Lord is contemptible. And if ye offer the blind
for sacrifice, is it not evil? and if ye offer the lame and sick, is it not
evil? offer it now unto thy governor; will he be pleased with thee, or
accept thy person? saith the Lord of hosts. Ye brought that which was
torn, and the lame, and the sick; thus ye brought an offering; should I
accept this of your hand? saith the Lord.”
Let us give careful heed to these warnings and reproofs. Though
addressed to ancient Israel, they are no less applicable to the people
of God today. And we should consider the words of the apostle in
[165]
which he appeals to his brethren, by the mercies of God, to present
their bodies, “a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.” This is
true sanctification. It is not merely a theory, an emotion, or a form of
words, but a living, active principle, entering into the everyday life. It
requires that our habits of eating, drinking, and dressing, be such as
to secure the preservation of physical, mental, and moral health, that
we may present to the Lord our bodies—not an offering corrupted by
wrong habits but—“a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable unto God.”