#22 Word of Wisdom: "The Principle with a Promise"

D&C 49:19-21; 59:15-21; 88:124; 89 Heritage p25-26

1st I want to play a little game to see how good your memories are.
Name the food that goes with the Slogan
1-Snickers Really Satisfies
2-Sport is what you make it Powerade.
3-Taste the Rainbow- Skittles
4-Betcha can’t eat just one- Lay’s
5-You deserve a break today-McDonalds
6-It’s way better than fast food, it’s Wendy’s
7-Eat fresh-Subway
8-I’m thinkin’ Arby’s
9-Open Happiness- coca-cola
10- melts in your mouth, not in your hands- m& m’s
11-Best Food for Fast times- Burger King
12-Obey the thirst that is in you- Gatorade
13-Give me a break- Kit Kat

After going through some of these commercials what do you think this D&C89:4 means? Are there conspiracies? David O. McKay observed the gradual growth of the evils of cigarettes in his lifetime: “The purport of that revelation impressed me in the twenties and the thirties of this century. I just ask you… to recall the methods employed by certain tobacco interests to induce women to smoke cigarettes. “You remember how insidiously they launched their plan. First, by saying that it would reduce weight, they had a slogan: ‘Take a cigarette instead of a sweet.’ “Later, some of us who like the theater, noticed that they would have a young lady light the gentleman’s cigarette. Following this a woman’s hand would be shown on billboards lighting or taking a cigarette. A year or two passed and soon they were brazen enough to show the lady on the screen or on the billboard smoking the cigarette… “Parents meekly submit to this and later deplore the fact when their children are hopeless cigarette addicts.” (Conf. Rep. Oct. 1949)

I didn’t want to discuss cigarettes because I don’t believe in this room we have a problem with this, I used this illustration to show how an advertising company goes about trying to come up with slogans and commercials to get us to buy and then become addicted to their products.

Seeing how well we did on our game it works to some degree doesn’t it?
Think about a couple of those slogans: Snickers really satisfies. Does it? After I have one I’m ready for another, either that or a drink to wash it down, either way it leaves something to be desired. How about Coke- Open Happiness- do you think that just by opening a can you have happiness? I don’t know I guess that is all up to the individual.

When we sit and dissect these commercials and slogans they don’t have much affect like they do right after seeing the commercial with all the hype and happy people being flashed at us, it can be difficult to control our mortal desires can’t it?

59:20 tells us how we can deal with our mortal desires; that is that all things need to be used with judgment, not to excess-temperance=self-mastery, neither by extortion (greedily gained)

Joseph Smith counseled, The difficulty with most of the human family, is eating too much, and failing to heed His(the Lord’s) counsel. There would be less disease and mankind would live longer if all would also heed the counsel of the Lord concerning the use of wholesome foods.”

Excess of food and drink isn’t the only part of the w of w I struggle with, here is another one.
88:124 Cease to be idle, cease to be unclean, cease to find fault one with another, cease to sleep longer than is needful, retire to bed early that ye may not be weary, arise early that your minds and bodies may be invigorated.

I have a bad habit of getting to bed very late, sleeping in and then wanting a nap in the middle of the day. No wonder my mind and body isn’t very invigorated.

Eating snickers isn’t necessarily bad, this isn’t at all what I’m trying to say, in fact the scripture 59:20 can help us decide when enough is enough-or when we have a problem. If we can have self-mastery, meaning if we can function well and could totally live without those things with no suffering to our spirits do what you like-moderation in all things. But remember the word of wisdom isn’t just a physical law-all things physical have a spiritual connection.

The story that Susan W. Tanner shared about her mother in a conference a few years ago illustrates this principle. (The Sanctity of the Body 2005 Ensign Nov p 13)
I remember an incident in my home growing up when my mother’s sensitive spirit was affected by a physical indulgence. She had experimented with a new sweet roll recipe. They were big and rich and yummy—and very filling. Even my teenage brothers couldn’t eat more than one. That night at family prayer my father called upon Mom to pray. She buried her head and didn’t respond. He gently prodded her, “Is something wrong?” Finally she said, “I don’t feel very spiritual tonight. I just ate three of those rich sweet rolls.” I suppose that many of us have similarly offended our spirits at times by physical indulgences. Especially substances forbidden in the Word of Wisdom have a harmful effect on our bodies and a numbing influence on our spiritual sensitivities. None of us can ignore this connection of our spirits and bodies.
The spiritual law is just what she said, that our physical bodies are connected to our spiritual ones, what damages them, hinders our spirits, what strengthens them, strengthens our spirits. When we partake of things that strengthen our bodies, both spiritual and physical, we are keeping a commandment, and as we keep commandments the Lord blesses us. With the commandment of obeying the Word of Wisdom, The Lord gives us certain promises.
So what are the promises? Ask yourself are the momentary physical pleasures worth giving up these spiritual promises for.
89:18-19 health in navel and marrow in bones this promise is illustrated with the story of Daniel and his friends living in the Kings court and how they were being forced to eat foods they had grown up without. They asked that they be given time and they would show how letting them keep their promises to their God to only to eat those foods that they were used to would bless them and the Kings court. As it turned out, their countenances were fairer, they had knowledge and skill, wisdom and understanding far greater than their counterparts. This is promise is just as applicable to us.
89:19 find wisdom- discernment, education, wisdom of Holy Ghost, gifts of the Holy Ghost, intelligence, understanding
Great treasures of knowledge- Riches of knowledge-spiritual discernment, know purposes of the earth, mysteries of Godliness, knowledge of scriptures,
President George Albert Smith pointed to a literal fulfillment of the promise of great treasures of knowledge: “I refer you to the Feb. 1944 Improvement Era wherein was published a graph showing the relative position of the states of the Union as to the number of scientists born in those states in proportion to population. Strange as it may seem, if you began at the lower corner of that graph and followed up state by state, you would come to the state of Massachusetts next to the highest on the graph, yet you would not have reached the state of Utah. You have to go twenty percent points higher up the graph to find Utah, the state that has produced more scientists born within its borders per capita than any other state in the American Union. That wasn’t as accident; it was a fulfillment of the promise of God as a result of observance of the Lord’s commandments. (conf. report, Oct. 1945 p21-22)

That is cool but Le Grand Richards asked once if there was truly “any treasure of knowledge in this world to be sought after, more desirable than to know that God lives, that Jesus is the Christ, to know that his kingdom has been established again in the earth, to know that God has promised a reward for every commandment that he has given, to know that he has created this earth that we might prove unto him that we would do all things, not just a few of them, all things whatsoever the Lord our God hath commanded? (conf. Report April 1961 p46)

I believe we come upon this knowledge when our physical bodies are clear and free enough of garbage and over-excess that our spirits can feel and know the truth of that statement.

89:20 Run and not weary- steps not hampered, run and not stumble we will have renewed strength.
Walk and not faint- physical true but also I believe this to be a spiritual promise. When it comes time for us to stand valiant and strong we will not faint, because we will have experienced and felt enough spiritual times and feelings that we won’t flinch when we are faced with persecution.

89:21 Destroying angel shall pass by them- President J. Reuben Clark Jr. said of this verse: “This does not say and this does not mean, that to keep the W of W is to insure us against death, for death is, in the eternal plan, co-equal with birth. This is the eternal decree. But it does mean that the destroying angel, he who comes to punish the unrighteous for their sins, as He in olden time afflicted the corrupt Egyptians in their wickedness, shall pass by the Saints, ‘who are walking in obedience to the commandments,’ and who ‘remember to keep and do these sayings.’ These promises do mean that all those who qualify themselves to enjoy them will be permitted so to live out their lives that they may gain the full experiences and get the full knowledge which they need in order to progress to the highest exaltation in eternity, all these will live until their work is finished and God call them back to their eternal home, as a reward.”
59:16 Fullness of Earth is yours, We will know all mysteries about earth and what all things can be used for our purposes Because:

59:18 all things are made for benefit and use of man to please the eye and gladden the heart.

To sum up the teaching that the word of wisdom is for a spiritual law more than a physical one, John A. Widtsoe wrote: “The reward for keeping the W of W is four-fold; 1-Self-control is developed (implied in 89:3) (adapted to capacity of the weak and weakest of all saints
2-Strength of the body, including resistance to contagion, result of wise living; in other words we won’t get sick so often.
3-Clearness of mind is a gift of those whose bodies are in healthy condition.
4-Spiritual power comes to all who conquer their appetites, live normally and look upward to God.

The way to get started is to see through all the advertising ploys, and love ourselves enough to allow our spirits to enjoy the promises the Lord would love to bless us with, by ridding ourselves of gluttony, excess and addictions. Easier said than done, I know, but small steps can bring about big results. I testify of this in the name of Jesus Christ Amen.