I saw this yesterday:

Healthcare for 97 cents.  This is a painfully accurate illustration of our society’s character.  Our quick-fix trends are lacking priorities of substance.  What matters most these days is instant gratification and momentary comfort.  Eating right, exercising consistently, adequate rest, natural remedies that cure the problem rather than merely treat the symptoms require too much time and money.  It is so much easier to pop a cheap pill, feel better, and get on with the demands of the day.  Perhaps the motivations of this type of attitude aren’t all bad – people don’t want to shirk their responsibilities or they feel like they are putting others before themselves. Maybe resting until the illness passes seems like the easy way out while pushing through the symptoms seem more noble.  Or maybe people like the attention that comes from others saying, “You need to take care of yourself. Go home and rest!”  Whatever the reasons may be, the consequences will still be the same.  In the end, your body will suffer from the side effects of neglect and synthetic medications.

There is a spiritual lesson in this for all of us – Christian or not.  Our identities are just as much spirit as they are body and mind.  In the busyness of the day, it is easy to ignore the fact that one day we will die, and our souls are going to spend eternity somewhere.  The Bible makes it clear that heaven is only a guarantee for those who have committed their lives in repentance to Jesus Christ. As black and white as this is, we still try to find ways of assuaging that spiritual tug on our conscience without committing to a genuine relationship with Jesus.  Let’s face it: it’s a lot easier to attend church now and then or watch an entertaining TV preacher or maybe even read a verse calendar each morning than to dedicate a life-long surrender of our entire being to obedience to the Almighty God.  This means that our hopes, dreams, interests, desires, and time are no longer our own but His.  This disciplining of Self requires time and effort to accept and cultivate. However, in the end, when we hear the words, “Well done, my good and faithful servant,” our soul will reap the benefits of a life that belongs to Jesus.

So the next time you get a cold or feel that tug on your conscience to read your Bible what are you going to reach for?