THE foolishness of robbing the body of rest in one's search for success is cited in Psalm 127:2 where it says: "It is vain for you to rise up early, to sit up late." To paraphrase this ancient admonition we seem to hear the psalmist saying:
It surely doesn't make sense to rob your self of sleep, burning the candle at both ends this way first one up before the dawn and the last one to put the lights out at night and then as if this injustice to your physical vitality were insufficient abuse, you buy scanty amounts of the cheapest and poorest quality of food for the family. That's not God's design for living; He gives those He loves an experience of peaceful rest through trust in Him.
The self-destruction through irregular habits of life practiced by good men is surely a device of the devil to snare souls and delay the advance of God's work.
Certainly the advantages of early to bed, and early to rise are well known, and late to bed is often followed by a waste of profitable morning hours in sleep. But a more frequently observed pattern in the lives of earnest workers is for them to push themselves and neglect sleep and the required balance of rest and exercise.
God has seen fit to fill His Word with evidences of His concern for the physical needs of His children. He fed His people and His prophets; He gave them rest and exercise of mind, body, and spirit. Within the laws of life He has shown the necessity of a balanced obedience to the needs of each system and faculty of the human body. These laws are to be a part of our basic theological education, for they reveal as no other revelation of nature the wisdom and love of the Creator. In reference to the importance of healthful living on the part of church workers, we read:
This is not a matter of trifling importance. We must pay attention to it if healthful vigor and a right tone are to be given to the various branches of the work. The character and efficiency of the work depends largely upon the physical condition of the workers.—Counsels on Health, p. 565. (Italics supplied)
The counsel that follows the above statement provides an action plan to better living supported by the sacred tithe:
1. Health has an intimate relationship to religion.
2. The minister must preserve his physical resources, for his success depends on health.
3. There has been far more neglect of the body than we would allow to mere machines.
4. We must study and learn more about the preservation of health and then use what we have learned in a practical way.
5. Read the best authors on these subjects, and obey religiously that which your reason tells you is truth.
Irregularity of sleep and diet and exercise places unreasonable hardships on the system and may lead to further abuse and excess and a compounding of frustration.
For His beloved, the Lord has promised a life experience that includes peace of mind and vigor of body as a result of attention to divinely appointed laws of good health.
Now, on the question of rest, what are the more obvious causes of too late retiring and too early rising?
