Hospitals encourage the practice of hygiene. They put signs and reminders all over the place—wash your hands, don’t spread disease—wash your hands.
They have containers of antibacterial gel all over the place. Boxes of latex gloves in patients’ rooms, specially marked trash cans. Every needle is individually wrapped and they don’t use a needle more than once. Before they draw blood, they swab your arm with something to kill any germs in the area.
Hospitals PRACTICE hygiene. Why?
Because if they don’t, there are consequences. People can get sick and die.
Can you imagine a hospital that said they believed in hygiene but didn’t practice it?
Oh yes, we believe in sanitation. Do we wash our hands? Naahh.
Do we reuse needles? What’s wrong with that?
Here, stick this in your mouth so I can take your temperature. It’s only been used a few times; you’ll be OK.
I don’t want to go to any hospital that merely talks about being clean; I want them to be passionate about hygene.
How much more should we have a passion for holiness.
We are to be holy and righteous in every area of our lives. Holy in our thoughts. In our speech. Cursing and dirty jokes and gossip and slander should be far from our lips. We should be holy with our eyes and turn away from all impurity. We must seek to be holy in our actions.
Ongoing hunger and thirst.
Jesus didn’t say “Blessed are those who at one time hungered and thirsted for righteousness … .” He said “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness”—present tense. All the time. Every moment. Like the sons of Korah who wrote Psalm 42:
As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When shall I come and appear before God? (Psalms 42:1-2)
To thirst for righteousness is to thirst for the living God. To thirst for relationship. For intimacy and communion with the Holy One.
So let’s not just talk about righteousness. Let’s hunger and thirst for it. Let’s not simply talk about holiness. Let’s practice it.
