Proper Dietary
73
Think Less About Temporal Food
131. We must be constantly meditating upon the word, eating it,
digesting it, and by practice, assimilating it, so that it is taken into the
life current. He who feeds on Christ daily will by his example teach
others to think less of that which they eat, and to feel much greater
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anxiety for the food they give to the soul.
The true fasting which should be recommended to all, is abstinence
from every stimulating kind of food, and the proper use of wholesome,
simple food, which God has provided in abundance. Men need to think
less about what they shall eat and drink, of temporal food, and much
more in regard to the food from heaven, that will give tone and vitality
to the whole religious experience.—
Letter 73, 1896
Reforming Influence of the Simple Life
132. Should we dress in plain, modest apparel without reference to
the fashions; should our tables at all times be set with simple, healthful
food, avoiding all luxuries, all extravagance; should our houses be
built with becoming plainness, and furnished in the same manner,
it would show the sanctifying power of the truth, and would have
a telling influence upon unbelievers. But while we conform to the
world in these matters, in some cases apparently seeking to excel
worldlings in fanciful arrangement, the preaching of the truth will have
but little or no effect. Who will believe the solemn truth for this time,
when those who already profess to believe it contradict their faith by
their works? It is not God who has closed the windows of heaven to
us, but it is our own conformity to the customs and practices of the
world.—
Testimonies for the Church 5:206, 1882
133. It was by a miracle of divine power that Christ fed the mul-
titude; yet how humble was the fare provided,—only the fishes and
barley loaves that were the daily fare of the fisherfolk of Galilee.
Christ could have spread for the people a rich repast, but food
prepared merely for the gratification of appetite would have conveyed
no lesson for their good. Through this miracle Christ desired to teach
a lesson of simplicity. If men today were simple in their habits, living
in harmony with nature’s laws, as did Adam and Eve in the beginning,
there would be an abundant supply for the needs of the human family.
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But selfishness and the indulgence of appetite have brought sin and