Sometimes we may go for a medical checkup to examine our current state of health to find out if we need to make changes in our lives to improve or maintain our health.
At this time of the year, we are to go through a spiritual checkup to see how we are doing spiritually. We need to know what we need to do to remain spiritually healthy or to become spiritually healthy. We are told to examine ourselves before taking part in the Passover service. Not to have someone else examine us, but to examine ourselves.
Remember at our baptism, we had repented and after being baptized, our sins were forgiven, and we were counted as clean. However, time has passed, and we have tended to sin from time to time. So annually, we come to Passover time when our feet are washed to cleanse them after travelling for the year since last Passover.
We gather dirt, or commit sin during the year, and we must recognize this and be symbolically cleaned up.
What are some of the areas we should consider? We are told to glorify God in our bodies (1 Corinthians 6:19-20), so let’s look at the various parts of our bodies and think how we can use each part to glorify God. Consider our eyes, ears, mouth, mind, heart, hands and feet.
Starting with our eyes, how do we use them? Up to 80% of our knowledge comes through our eyes, and they are a method by which Truth enters us. In this world, Satan has blinded the vast majority so they cannot see Truth. And when we look at what is available in the world, violent and pornographic entertainment is very common.
Advertising is used to appeal to the lust of the eyes, as John mentioned in 1 John 2:16. Things or activities are advertised in such a way as to encourage our wanting them. Things we may not be able to afford or need are made very appealing.
David mentioned in the Psalms that he would set nothing wicked before his eyes. And that his eyes were ever toward the Lord.
I’m sure you remember the expression if your eye causes you to sin, pluck it out and cast it from you. While this is a figure of speech, it means not to look at things that cause you to sin.
We can look at many right things, look upon others with compassion, look in the Word of God for instruction in living righteously, and look at events signifying the end of this world and the coming Kingdom of God. These are all positive things to look at.
What about our ears? Do we freely listen to gossip, someone destroying another’s reputation? When we hear something, we must carefully evaluate it to see if it is really true. Much of what we hear today is propaganda to get us to believe falsehoods as if they were Truth.
And yet there are many things we should hear. We certainly should listen to God’s instruction and correction, which can be personal or given generally in sermons.
A bit lower down from the eyes and ears is the mouth. Through our mouths we are nourished and can communicate with others, both important and enjoyable activities. While the Kingdom of God is more than meat or drink, we still need to care for our bodies in what we eat and drink.
There is a warning in Isaiah 55:2 that reads, “Why do you spend money for what is not bread, And your wages for what does not satisfy? Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good. And let your soul delight itself in abundance.” Listening to God’s Truth is spiritual food to last forever.
We should also learn to use our tongues correctly. We can use it to uplift and encourage others. We can console those who are suffering. There are many right and true things to say, but with our mouth it is very easy to say negative things about others, to be the originator of gossip, or to pass on rumors. Even just talking too much can easily cause sin. Remember what King Solomon said in Proverbs 10:19: “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise.”
We should seek God’s help to use our tongues to inform and encourage and sometimes even correct in a right manner. There is a right time and a right way to speak. A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold in pictures of silver.
The next part to consider is our mind. It is what determines our actions, and it should be molded, by studying and applying God’s Truth and laws, to reflect God’s mind in our lives. This is mentioned in Philippians 2:5: “Let this mind be in you which was also in Christ Jesus.”
What about our heart? In the Bible, the heart represents the source of our attitudes. Christ said we could be defiled by what comes out of our heart. Mark 7:20-23 states: “And He said, ‘What comes out of a man, that defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lewdness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.’”
You probably remember where it says, you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart. We are also told to love one another fervently with a pure heart (1 Peter 1:22). In Ephesians 4:32 we read, “And be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another, even as God in Christ forgave you.” So, our heart must be right before God.
What about our hands and feet? Our hands can be used for many purposes and there is an interesting proverb that gives us advice. Proverbs 10:4 states, “He who has a slack hand becomes poor, But the hand of the diligent makes rich.” As the fourth commandment says, six days we are to labor and do all our work. So, God intends us to work and not be lazy.
As for our feet, they are the means by which we walk on the path of life. We can walk on the broad and easy way which leads to destruction, or we can walk on the narrow way which leads to life. We must be of the few who walk on this narrow path leading to eternal life.
With Passover in only a few weeks, as we examine ourselves, as we do a full body periodic checkup, think of all the parts of our body, and what each part performs. Consider the sin each part can get us into and examine where we should change how we use each part of our body.
Unfortunately, as we travel through life, we sometimes use parts of our body in a way not appropriate, and need another Passover to be reminded to be washed clean from sin again, but remember, we are to glorify God in our bodies. And that includes every part, not just some parts. And when we have gone through this examination, we can take the Passover in a worthy manner, pleasing to God.