The Whole You

Now, Mr Bill is too kind to roll his eyes at me, but I know he does sometimes. Part of his morning routine is a kitchen-stop where I’ve set-out an energy drink and vitamins. That’s when and where I think the eye-rolling occurs. The current climate has made everyone consider habits which [in reality] should have been a normal practice – hand washing, attentiveness to healthy immune system, etc. This leads me to consider how attentive I am to my whole person: physical, mental, emotional and spiritual. I’m not sure Paul was in the midst of a pandemic but he wrote to Timothy, “Be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15). One of Satan’s most effective tools is to get us so busy we carelessly neglect important things. This happens because there are certain things about ourselves we don’t see as urgent as others. We certainly can’t neglect personal hygiene, diet or being at work as our jobs demand.  On the other hand, sitting quietly before God in study and prayer – well, those are easily pushed down the priority list. Paul was challenging us all to be serious about personal faithfulness to being approved by God, to avoid the shame of neglect to study God’s Word. Interestingly, those things Mr Bill rolls his eyes at – things we’ve been doing routinely for years – are what is being suggested now in this current crisis. Take a moment to consider the part-of-you that may suffer from neglect; make sure it’s not your spiritual well-being! There’s only one fix for that: read and study God’s words of truth. That’s a mandate from God Himself!