CD 225
(Counsels on Diet and Foods 225)
Chapter 13—Diet in Childhood VC
Counsel Based on Divine Instruction VC
339. The inquiry of fathers and mothers should be, “What shall we do unto the child that shall be born unto us?” Judges 13:8, 12. We have brought before the reader what God has said concerning the course of the mother before the birth of her children. But this is not all. The angel Gabriel was sent from the heavenly courts to give directions for the care of children after their birth, that parents might fully understand their duty. (CD 225.1) MC VC
About the time of Christ’s first advent the angel Gabriel came to Zacharias with a message similar to that given to Manoah. The aged priest was told that his wife should bear a son, whose name should be called John. “And,” said the angel, “thou shalt have joy and gladness; and many shall rejoice at his birth. For he shall be great in the sight of the Lord, and shall drink neither wine nor strong drink; and he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost.” Luke 1:14, 15. This child of promise was to be brought up with strictly temperate habits. An important work of reform was to be committed to him, to prepare the way for Christ. (CD 225.2) MC VC
Intemperance in every form existed among the people. Indulgence in wine and luxurious food was lessening physical strength, and debasing the morals to such an extent that the most revolting crimes did not appear sinful. The voice of John was to sound forth from the wilderness in stern rebuke for the sinful indulgences of the people, and his own abstemious habits were also to be a reproof of the excesses of his time.—The Signs of the Times, September 13, 1910 (CD 225.3) MC VC
The True Beginning of Reform VC
The efforts of our temperance workers are not sufficiently far-reaching to banish the curse of intemperance from our land. Habits once formed are hard to overcome. The reform should begin with the mother before the birth of her children; and if God’s instructions were faithfully obeyed, intemperance would not exist. (CD 225.4) MC VC