The Adventist Advantage
| What advantage, then, is
there in being a Jew, or what value is there in circumcision? Much in every
way! First of all, they have been entrusted with the very words of God.
Rom. 3:1, 2, NIV. |
In Romans 3
the apostle Paul said, in effect, What is the advantage of being one of
God's chosen people with advanced knowledge, hope, and guidance? (In the
King James Version it says, "What advantage then hath the Jew?") Then he
goes on to describe how they were the recipients of God's oracles. They
had that divine advantage of knowing, of understanding. But it does nothing
for us at all unless we put it into practice, unless it becomes a part
of our life.
I believe there is an "Adventist
advantage." More than 130 years ago God gave the Adventist pioneers special
health information. But the Adventist advantage won't do Adventists any
good unless they are a living testimony that demonstrates the superiority
of God's lifestyle to the world, both physically and spiritually.
When I was a young man I
spent several years at Vincent Hill School up in the foothills of the Himalayas
in North India. Because of the favorable climate at 10,000-foot altitude,
a number of schools existed in that area. Ours, however, was the smallest
and the subject of ridicule because we had a vegetarian diet. The others
would challenge us in all kinds of sports, but we always declined because
of school policy. They said it was because we were afraid of them.
There came a time when a
few of us were tired of the ridicule. Annually the area schools held a
competitive run to a mountain about 20 miles away that required traveling
over difficult terrain with huge gorges spanned by little rope bridges,
and scrambling steep mountainsides. We were really not supposed to compete
in it. However, three of us decided that we would enter to demonstrate
to all our critics that there was an Adventist advantage.
It was a privilege to return
from that three-day ordeal and be at least a quarter of a mile ahead of
the next competitor! And the two others from our school took the third-
and fourth-place positions. After that there was never any question about
the "grass eaters" and the Adventist advantage.
Are you a living demonstration to the
world
of the Adventist advantage? |
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