This is what a physician will tell one who has high blood pressure. I have great respect for physicians, but they don't know how to keep from worrying. Tell a man who has been accustomed to an active life to sit down for rest of his life, and you place him where he will spend his life worrying. It is possible to spend much of our time without worrying, but faith is the only attitude of mind that will bring it about.

All is out of God. This is a positive statement of Paul in Rom. 11:36. He makes no exception. John speaks of something that is not of the Father. But we must remember that God does some things as the Placer, and some other things as the Father. We are very much accustomed to this in everyday life. In our county is a man who does thing as sheriff, and other things as a farmer. The FARMER does not arrest people; the SHERIFF does.

So does the PLACER place every individual and every part of His creation. There is nothing that is not of Him. But as FATHER, His relationship is to saints only.

If all is OF God, it is also true that all is THROUGH Him. And it is equally true that all is FOR Him. Do we believe this? Many of us profess to do so, but we deny it in actual practice. It is on the premise that out of Him and through Him and for Him is all, that we can reasonably exhort anyone to not let anything be worrying him.

The fact that all is of God, does not shut us off from the privilege of exhortation. He uses our pleading with others to bring about desired results. In other words, all is of God, but He brings much it to pass through means, and exhortation is one of the means.

We present our body in service---I mean in public service. When I am sitting down, meditating on the Lord, my body is not active. But there are many things that meditation alone will not do. We must be active. When the scriptures speak of the body the physical part of man is meant. When the mind is mentioned, it has reference to the mental part of man. When the spirit is under consideration, the scripures are speaking of the spiritual part of man.

We have found, as the scriptures tell us, that meeting in public assemble for worship and study is beneficial to our spirits. In meeting we have to present the body. It is fine if we can realize that the body is holy---that is we should regard it as devoted to God. We may have to work at our business to make a living, but let us remember that the real reason why we have a body is that we might use it to the glory of God. This is what is meant by the word, "holy", in Rom. 12, in reference to the body.

Paul tells us also that we should present the body "living". The fact that on one can present a dead body, is proof that when Paul says "living", he means "lively". We should not "drag" in service. We are to be active and go into the work of presenting our body as if we are glad to do it. Let us not approach any service as if we were being dragged by the hand into something which we detest.

The body is to be a sacrifice to God---not a sacrifice to arduous toil that make us too much fatigued to serve. We are living in a time when the bodies of saints are too much worn out with either work, or dissipation, or revelry, to feel other than tired and sleepy, when we come into public assembly.

Let us try to be rested. And ease of mind is the best way to rest. Hard work does not make us too tired to rest, but worry does. If the mind is at ease, you can grow tired at labor, and then rest when night comes. But if you are worrying over your work, or anything else, it so affects the body that you can't rest.

This is why Paul brings in the mind, in Rom. 12. Our mind needs renewing. It needs freedom from worrying. Paul discusses this just after telling us that all is of God. We cannot have a fit body without a rested mind.

How, then, do we reach the state of mental rest? The physician cannot tell us. But Paul has told us. Just remember that all is of God---He is the source; all is through God---He is the channel; all is for God---He will use it and get glory out of it. Believing this with all our heart, we can be at ease in mind, and this, in turn, will make for a rested body, to present to the Lord in service.

The eon is running in the direction of insanity caused by worry and non-ease of mind. We, as saints, are to not be conformed to it. If you will stand at a street corner in a large city and watch workers going to their jobs in the early morning, you will be impressed with the strained expression on their faces---manifesting a state of mind that has been brought on by the constant reiteration by politicians to the effect that labor is being mistreated by capital. Then watch a capitalist, and you will see the same strained expression. He distrusts labor, as much as the worker distrusts him. There is no ease of mind here.

Contrast this with the way the capitalist, Boaz, greeted his laborers, and their reply. It is found in the book of Ruth. "The Lord be with you", said the "boss" when he came into the field. "The Lord bless you," was the happy response. We have gotten away from it, and there is no ease of mind for either, labor or management. I am blaming no one for it. But I am saying that the man or woman of faith is supposed to have a different attitude.

Go into most homes and note the look of fatigue on the face of the housewife. It is because she has to work so hard? No; it is because she has not learned to relax her mind---to have her mind renewed. Note the same in the countenance of a husband. His work would not hurt him one bit if his mind were at ease.

The saint is supposed to have a mind that is at ease. If faith does not do this for us, what is the use of having it? If we are going to go through life worrying, and under a mental strain, let us quit saying we have faith. Do we encounter opposition? Are there those who try to destroy the work we have built up? Do we meet criticism on every hand? Is it not of God? Is not God working all together for our greed? Is there not a "better world" than the present one---a better home that we expect to have some day? Why, then worry as if we thought this is the only place in the universe, and that we have to be masters of our own destiny?

I echo the words of the physician: "Take it easy---Don't worry". But, unlike him, I have a recipe for doing that. If we are able to fully and REALLY believe that all is of God, we can take it easy.

Calmness of spirit is restful. It makes for a healthier body. This, in turn, enables us to better follow the dictates of the spirit, and the demands of the scriptures, where activity of the body is required.

Youthfulness of spirit is dependent very much on real faith. Faith tells us that we are in the hand of God. This kind of faith is based on the scriptures. God opens our hears to receive this blessed truth. It is He Who not only gives faith, but cultivates it, as well. In Paul's early ministry he, evidently, did not have the fullness of faith that characterized his later activities. We find him full of worrying and apprehension. In his late years he was calm, leaving in the hand of God the guarding of the precious truth committed to us. Nothing is more beautiful than his expressions as he looked out on the future. He was already a libation; the period of his dissolution was imminent; without a fear he looking forward to the wreath of righteousness which would be his in that day. he had kept the faith; he had contended the ideal contest; he had finished his career. Here was evening calmness. As he looked by faith into the future, he saw no cause for worry, just as he new knew that there is no cause for worry on "this side".

Yes, take it easy---don't worry. But remember, this attitude is possible only on the foundation of faith---believing what our God has said.