In the Gospel for this week, many people from different professions came to John the Baptist and asked him, “What should we do?” We are all at least a little curious of what to do sometimes. I do believe that God can show us signs of what to do and inspire that gut feeling inside of us of what is right. However, we are the ultimate deciders, so we should always pray that God will guide us to make the right decision and lead us the right place.
Last Saturday, I went to urgent care after having the signs of on and off pain in my right side. I woke up that morning not knowing what I was going to do. There was a part of me that was saying just put it off and it will probably get better. I had already missed seven months of work this year for a heart problem and didn’t have much or any sick time to use if I didn’t make it to work. However, I had a gut feeling that I needed to get this checked out just in case it was bad and I’m glad that I listened to that feeling.
The doctor found that my appendix was swollen and that I would need emergency surgery to remove it. As I was being strapped to the operating table in the shape of a cross with my arms extended and bound, I was reminded of the cross and the sacrifice that Jesus went through for us, except a lot worse and without general anesthesia. I thought, if I were to die, my arms were open wide for Him.
If I hadn’t listened to that feeling to get this checked out, who knows where I would be today. I was supposed to fly for the next four days all across the country. What if it got worse when I was far away in a hotel and I had to get the surgery done away from home and family? What if my appendix burst while I was flying and it was too late to get to a hospital? This situation could have definitely turned out a lot worse.
How many times do we put off attending to our spiritual health as well? We might say, I’ll start going to church when I get older or I’ll pray to God after I get everything else done. We say everything will be alright. We are basically good people and God will understand. We can’t afford to have the attitude that everything will work out when it comes to our spiritual health. If we do, we may end up in spiritual pain or death. Listen and don’t delay in taking action to attend to our spiritual health so that we may fully experience the joy that God offers us.
