Section: The Care of the Sick (Chapters 15-19)

Section: The Care of the Sick 

(Chapters 15-19)

The Creator chose for our first parents the surroundings best adapted for their health and happiness. He did not surround them with the artificial adornments and luxuries that so many today are struggling to obtain. He placed them in close touch with nature.
--Those who minister to the sick should understand the importance of careful attention to the laws of health. Many persons bring disease upon themselves by their self-indulgence. Disease never comes without a cause. God is not responsible for the suffering that follows disregard of natural law. Inactivity is a fruitful cause of disease.
--The Christian nurse, while administering treatment for the restoration of health, will pleasantly and successfully draw the mind

of the patient to Christ, the healer of the soul as well as of the body.
--An important part of the nurse's duty is the care of the patient's diet.
--Christ's servants are the channel of His working, and through them He desires to exercise His healing power. It is our work to present the sick and suffering to God in the arms of our faith.
--In health and in sickness, pure water is one of heaven's choicest blessings.
--Song is a weapon that we can always use against discouragement.
--Adam and Eve delighted in the sights and sounds of Eden. God appointed them their work in the garden, "to dress it and to keep it." Genesis 2:15. Each day's labor brought them health. Plans should be devised for keeping patients out of doors. For those who are able to work, let some pleasant, easy employment be provided.
--The relation that exists between the mind and the body is very intimate. When one is affected, the other sympathizes. Many die from disease the cause of which is wholly imaginary.
--We are in a world of suffering. Difficulty, trial, and sorrow await us all along the way to the heavenly home. But there are many who make life's burdens doubly heavy by continually anticipating trouble.
--If in our ignorance we make missteps, the Savior does not forsake us. We need never feel that we are alone. Angels are our companions. The Comforter that Christ promised to send in His name abides with us.

"Like as a father pitieth his children, 

So the Lord pitieth them that fear Him.

For He knoweth our frame; 

He remembereth that we are dust."

Psalm 103:13, 14

--To those who desire prayer for their restoration to health, it should be made plain that the violation of God's law, either natural or spiritual, is sin, and that in order for them to receive His blessing, sin must be confessed and forsaken. The psalmist says, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me." Psalm 66:18.
--Believing that they will be healed in answer to prayer, some fear to do anything that might seem to indicate a lack of faith. But they

should not neglect to set their affairs in order as they would desire to do if they expected to be removed by death. Nor should they fear to utter words of encouragement or counsel which at the parting hour they wish to speak to their loved ones. But should health be restored, it should not be forgotten that the recipient of healing mercy is placed under renewed obligation to the Creator. When the ten lepers were cleansed, only one returned to find Jesus and give Him glory. Let none of us be like the unthinking nine, whose hearts were untouched by the mercy of God.