The body can be impeccably precise at times. It’s as almost if there were an internal clock inside that signals to the person when to perform the necessary tasks in order to maintain its survival. Noon time—time to eat lunch, Night time—time to sleep, Morning time—time to sleep (Okay, so maybe the body is not as precise in terms of waking up.) But for the most part, our bodies are highly sensitive to any changes in its routine. If a meal is missed then our stomach begins to grumble and we begin to complain, saying, “I wish I had some…right now.” There is nothing wrong with our bodies demanding so much but one question to consider is: do we implement the same precision in our spiritual lives?
Jesus said, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness.” Even though people may have a longing for physical subsistence, Jesus is teaching them to have an even greater longing or “hunger” for righteousness, described in the subsequent chapter as the Kingdom of God.
Examining our lives, how many times we forget the hunger that is in our spirit? The thirst it has for the Word of God or for His grace? Are there times we strictly adhere to the schedule mandated by our physical desires and overlook that of our spirit?
If we truly did hunger and thirst for righteousness like Jesus taught, then we would have a firm resolution to first develop sensitivity to our internal spiritual clock and abide by its schedule. For example, if Sunday Service begins at 11 a.m., do we usually arrive at 11:03? A few minutes doesn’t make a difference but it’s the effort that counts, one may think. However, in the world where people would arrive even an hour early to prepare if they had a meeting with the President, shouldn’t the people who are doing everything as pleasing sacrifices to God be even more precise in keeping the time? Service is a pre-set time distinguished beforehand where the children of God have agreed to congregate and meet Him. Meeting God is more important than meeting the president, wouldn’t we agree?
Even if the matter of being on time is reduced to a logical argument, it can be explained in this way. Human beings have a finite period of time they live on this earth. After that, we die. If we generously average the human expected lifespan to yield 100 years, one could argue that a minute lost within those 100 years wouldn’t be that much of a loss. However, from a Christian viewpoint, the finite life on earth does continue with an eternal life in Heaven. It can therefore be concluded that even if a person were given one minute, one second, one moment on earth, they would be able to create eternity. How thankful should we be since we have much more than one moment?
Since we are not only longing for our afterlife but we are true children of God who want to see His Kingdom come on earth as it is in heaven. So, there is another way we can view this matter. We don’t have much time! Given the amount of years we have left on this earth, there isn’t much time left for us to worship God, there isn’t much time left for us to save souls, and there isn’t much left for us to persist in holding onto our past habits.
Listening to the needs and keeping the needs of the body is important, too. But the body is not eternal. “Store up your treasures in heaven.” Use your time on earth to develop your spirit and that of others and keep the time for spiritual matters such as service, prayer, meetings, and goals well. A person who watches his spiritual clock will not be alarmed or afraid when the alarm beeps and his time on earth expires because a new world will be open beyond time and his spiritual longing will be fulfilled.
