24-hour spirituality
Despite the argument, there are still 24 hours in a day; how you use the hours depends on who you are and your vision and aspirations in life.
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You can have up to 25 or 30 hours a day if you want; just that you wouldn’t have seven days in a week since you would have spent hours belonging to the next day!
Why are we arguing about a 24-hour economy as if we are strangers to other 24-hour ways of life in our beloved country? For example, aren’t we running 24-hour politics in this country?
Throughout the day and night, either in public or in private, on vehicles and at our workplaces, on mainstream media or social media, wherever two or three are gathered in this country, we talk and fight over politics.
We run 24-hour perversion and ungodliness in this country. Every minute of the day and at night, some kind of evil and immorality is taking place. Unhealthy transactions are constantly at work, resulting in victims being swindled and perpetrators mocked all the way to the bank.
Betting, lotto forecasting, and other forms of gambling now take place every minute of the 24 hours at our disposal, with new and sophisticated ones appearing on the scene like stars. On television and radio, we gamble day and night.
And, believe it or not, the Ghanaian’s penchant for speculating is gradually seeping into church life where people blindly experiment with various forms of religiosity, especially regarding money, that resembles gambling.
Given the pervading nature of corruption in every fabric of our society, it is obvious we are practising 24-hour corruption, in high and low places.
We used to think that only some politicians are corrupt until one tele-evangelist gave us the street definition of corruption, which includes dishonesty, exploitation, bribery, fraud, immorality, distortion and lying. He said even arriving late at functions is a form of corruption of integrity!
The days when radio and television stations closed at night until the next morning were over. Today, broadcasting continues for 24 hours nonstop. That would have been great, but for the unashamed pornography that ceases the airwaves at night.
The Ghanaian is constantly on the move. We travel 24/7—by air, by water bodies, by rail and by land. If our 24-hour travelling is for good, great; but if we are travelling for undercover deals, what benefit would that be?
But we applaud the 24-hour spirituality we are familiar with. It says in the scriptures that God never sleeps nor slumbers (Psalm 121:3-4). What is he doing keeping awake 24/7? He is watching over us, for “his eyes move to and fro throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him” (2 Chronicles 16:9). There would be total chaos if God were to turn his eyes away from his creation even for a moment.
The other day, I saw on a church billboard notice announcing that they operate 24/7. The church is always open, day and night, and they run what is known as a prayer-chain voluntarily with some of their members.
By dividing the volunteers into 24 groups, the prayer chain system allows non-stop all-day and all-night prayers, with each group spending just an hour at a time.
To be able to do this, the leaders said they had to block their ears against criticisms such as: “You spend too much time at church”; “Your members are lazy and don’t want to work”; “We don’t eat prayers, do we?”
When we say the Christian life is not like the clothes we wear and take off at will, we mean that the Christian life is lived 24/7. This 24-hour spirituality cannot be compromised. Otherwise, we would be like the chameleon, changing colours to suit our environment. That way of living is known as hypocrisy.
Serious believers understand that keeping watch over our faith and living a godly life cannot be toyed with. Why not? Because “your enemy the devil is prowling around like a roaring lion seeking someone to devour”.
If you have an enemy like that, you wouldn’t want to lose guard over your life; you would be watchful 24/7. Musician Martin King Arthur (popularly known as Kofi Kinaata) challenges all, saying, “Part-time Christian, you want to fight full-time devil!”
That is why the Apostle Paul admonishes us to put on the full armour of God so that we can take our stand against the devil’s schemes. The armour, worn 24 hours daily, includes knowing the truth and being truthful, following righteousness, sharing the gospel, exercising faith, having salvation and being sure of it, knowing the Word of God and obeying it, and being prayerful (Ephesians 6:10-10-18).
About prayer, Paul said, “Pray without ceasing” (1 Thessalonians 5:16), which calls for being in constant touch with Almighty God in a continuous, conscious outreach. That is 24-hour spirituality!
