How are we spending our money? As families and individuals, are we giving to God not just the tithe but generous freewill offerings also? Are you making only purchases that are essential and that would bring glory to the Lord? Are you in long-term debt? Then get on your knees and cry out for deliverance and mercy. Do what is humanly possible for you to do, and then ask God to help you out of this bondage. We have experienced that this one pitfall affects many areas of the Christian’s life. It can place you in a position of almost literal “slavery.” “The borrower is servant to the lender” (Proverbs 22:7). In order to keep up with bills, the parents are forced to spend more time outside the home instead of investing time to “train up a child in the way he should go” (Proverbs 22:6) or in spreading the present truth. This is a snare from the enemy, brethren and sisters.

What about our eating? Yes, we are vegetarians - or so we think we are eating vegetarian food. . . . Recently I learned about the operation of flourmills. After stripping all the natural nutrients from the wheat kernel, the processors then turn around and enrich it back with Thiamine, Niacin, and so forth - from an animal source! Yes, an animal source. The food industry can conceal 10% of their ingredients and hide harmful ingredients under the words, “natural flavor” or “spices.” They can even outright lie on the label. In past articles we read about the many additives that are now common in our food. We see that Satan has infiltrated the food industry. You may be asking at this point, “What can we eat, then?” The Spirit of Prophecy gives the following counsel:

“The people are to be taught how to prepare wholesome food. They are to be shown the need of discarding unhealthful foods. But we should never advocate a starvation diet. It is possible to have a wholesome, nutritious diet without the use of tea, coffee, and flesh food. The work of teaching the people how to prepare a dietary that is at once wholesome and appetizing is of the utmost importance.”3

If we neglect to put pure articles of food into our bodies, then our minds are benumbed and clouded, and we have given the enemy a foothold. Eat and prepare the foods that are found in nature, in their natural state. Instead of the bottled lemon juice with chemical preservatives - reach for the lemon itself! Reach for the genuine, not the imitation. Beware of genetically modified foods. We have been counseled to grow our own food for a reason.

“Form classes where you may teach the people how to make good bread and how to put together ingredients to make healthful food combinations from the grains and the vegetables. Such an education will assist in creating a desire among our people to move out of the cities, to secure land in the country, where they can raise their own fruit and vegetables.”4

“Again and again the Lord has instructed that our people are to take their families away from the cities, into the country, where they can raise their own provisions; for in the future the problem of buying and selling will be a very serious one. We should now begin to heed the instruction given us over and over again: Get out of the cities into rural districts, where the houses are not crowded closely together, and where you will be free from the interference of enemies.”5

What about the family? What is God’s will for us in these last days? As we know, Jesus is in the most holy place of the heavenly sanctuary, continuing His work of intercession during the antitypical Day of Atonement. We read in Joel chapter 2 of the preparation for the Lord’s return and the condition of the children of God. God’s people are given instruction as to how to be ready. They are not to segregate their family members into separate age groups - rather they are to press together as one. “Blow the trumpet in Zion, sanctify a fast, call a solemn assembly: Gather the people, sanctify the congregation, assemble the elders, gather the children, and those that suck the breasts: let the bridegroom go forth of his chamber, and the bride out of her closet” (Joel 2:15, 16). We see here that even the youngest of children are to be addressed in this solemn hour, for “even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right” (Proverbs 20:11). Now is not the time to allow our children to be left to freely imitate their peers who are as weak and inexperienced in matters of eternal importance as they themselves are. Just as John the Baptist was taught as a child, our young must be taught the sober realities involved in preparing to meet their God.

Brethren and sisters, we are living in the antitypical Day of Atonement and we are instructed to have our family with us. Our children should be at our side - working, playing, learning, studying, and worshipping. There has been no other time in history that a society has been so antagonistic against the family. Satan knows that if he can divide us he will conquer. Jesus said, “If a kingdom be divided against itself, that kingdom cannot stand. And if a house be divided against itself, that house cannot stand” (Mark 3:24, 25).

“Ye can discern the face of the sky; but can ye not discern the signs of the times?” (Matthew 16:3). The prophecies of Revelation 13 are rapidly being fulfilled. How are we to prepare for the trials that are soon to come? Our main preparation must be spiritual, of course, but obviously some measure of practical preparation is wise, as well.

The children of Israel acknowledged that they were in bitter bondage when they bemoaned the days of captivity, “We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us” (Lamentations 5:4). Are we in the same condition? Probably. Do we plan to stay in this condition indefinitely? It is something to consider. Remember, God helps those who help themselves. Physical preparation is not to be a preoccupation at the expense of spiritual preparation, but neither should it be blindly ignored.

“Many today are fast asleep, as were the disciples. They are not watching and praying lest they enter into temptation. Let us often read and give careful study to those portions of God’s Word that have special reference to these last days, pointing out the dangers that will threaten God’s people. We need keen, sanctified perception. This perception is not to be used in criticizing and condemning one another, but in discerning the signs of the times. We are to keep our hearts with all diligence, that we may not make shipwreck of faith. Those who neglect to watch and pray, in these days of peril; those who neglect to unite with their brethren in seeking the Lord, but who stand aloof from God’s appointed agencies in the church, are in grave danger of strengthening themselves in their own way, following the impulses of their own minds, and refusing to heed the admonitions of the Lord. There are those who once were firm believers in the truth, but who have become careless in regard to their spiritual welfare, and are yielding, without the slightest opposition, to Satan’s well-laid plots.

“Let every believer closely examine himself, to ascertain what are his weak points. Let him cherish a spirit of humility, and plead with the Lord for grace and wisdom, and for the faith that works by love and purifies the soul. Let him cast away all self-confidence. . . .

“Those who walk humbly before God, distrustful of their own wisdom, will realize their danger, and will know the power of God’s keeping care. Those who do not realize their danger because they do not watch, will pay, with the loss of their souls, the penalty of their presumption and their wilful ignorance of Satan’s devices.”6

“We are living amid the perils of the last days, and we should guard every avenue by which Satan can approach us with his temptations. A fatal delusion seizes those who have had great light and precious opportunities, but who have not walked in the light nor improved the opportunities God has given them. Darkness comes upon them; they fail to make Christ their strength, and fall an easy prey to the snares of the deceiver. A mere assent to the truth will never save a soul from death. We must be sanctified through the truth; every defect of character must be overcome, or it will overcome us, and become a controlling power for evil. Commence without a moment’s delay to root out every pernicious weed from the garden of the heart; and, through the grace of Christ, allow no plants to flourish there but such as will bear fruit unto eternal life.

“Cultivate whatever in your character is in harmony with the character of Christ. Cherish those things that are true, honest, just, pure, lovely and of good report; but put away whatever is unlike our Redeemer. Selfishness is cherished to an extent that few realize; guard against it at all times and in all places. Do not excuse yourself in any error. If you have one objectionable trait which you find it difficult to subdue, do not talk of your weakness that others must bear with. Do not soothe your conscience with the thought that you cannot overcome the peculiarities that deform your character, nor listen to Satan’s suggestion that they are not very grievous. There is no way by which you can be saved in sin. Every soul that gains eternal life must be like Christ, ‘holy, blameless, undefiled, separate from sinners’ (Hebrews 7:26). The followers of Christ must shine as lights in the midst of a crooked and perverse generation. . . .

“Church membership will not guarantee us Heaven. We must abide in Christ, and His love must abide in us. We must every day make advancement in the formation of symmetrical character. ‘Be ye therefore perfect, even as your Father which is in heaven is perfect’ (Matthew 5:48). As God is perfect in His sphere, so are we required to be perfect in ours. There is a great work before us individually to reach this high standard, and some have scarcely learned their a b c’s in the school of Christ. Our attainments will be just in accordance with the efforts we make, our character just what we choose to make it; for through the divine aid promised us, we can overcome. Jesus knows our frame; ‘he remembereth that we are dust’ (Psalm 103:14). In pitying tenderness, He will give us the help and strength we need.”7