The Lords Law of Health - RS Lesson, March 13, 2011

This lesson was about the Lord's Law of Health, Section 89 of the Doctrine and Covenants, by Sister Pam Bitsch who provided this summary.

We started out by reviewing the history of this section as told by Pres. Ezra Taft Benson in April conference 1983. The brethren came from miles around to attend the "School of the Prophets" where Joseph Smith instructed them in things pertaining to the Kingdom of God. In the absence of a temple, the meetings were held in a room in the home of Bishop Newel K. Whitney. After breakfast, the brethren would meet together in this room where they would light up their pipes and smoke while discussing the gospel. Then when the pipes had gone out, they would take a large chew of tobacco. The Prophet would find himself in a large cloud of smoke. This, and the complaints of his wife at having to clean the floor, led him to inquire of the Lord relating to this and the Lord gave him the revelation known as the Word of Wisdom.

We went on the talk about this being a "principle" and not a hard and fast set of rules. Yes, many things are spelled out as to what we should put into our bodies and should not, but not everything is listed. How could it be? We need to be in touch with the Spirit and think about the principle of this revelation and relate it to the things we eat. Science, in our day, has borne out the proof of the things which Joseph Smith received. In his time, no one would have guessed that smoking or chewing tobacco or drinking tea and coffee could be bad for your health. The Word of Wisdom does not specifically say "tea and coffee", but not to use "hot drinks". Brigham Young said that hot drinks referenced tea and coffee -- and those were the drinks of that day. Sometimes today we will see studies saying that drinking tea and coffee are good for one. But we should know that following the Lord's counsel will always lead us to the best thing and not following the counsel of man. It also does not say to not use caffeine, but science in our day has shown us that caffeine has many bad side effects, too. There must be wisdom in the things we partake of. God gave us a body to house our spirits. It becomes a temple for our spirits and we need to care for it the best we can. Another thing Brigham Young commented about was resting to renew our strength and not to try to do "two days work in one" by using stimulants and drugs to keep ourselves going when we are tired.

We made a point of looking at the promises associated with keeping the Word of Wisdom, "to run and not be weary and to walk and not faint" and to have "great treasures of knowledge, even hidden treasures" made available to us. These are certainly wonderful promises and something we should all be striving to obtain.

I am so grateful to know that I have a Heavenly Father who cares about me so much that He even has revealed things that help me keep my body healthy. It is so hard to increase one's spirituality when you don't feel good so I know that God is helping us have the ability to have our good health and a healthy spirit work together for our good.