Are You Conscious of It?
1 Of what? Of the importance of being on time in all your activities! Are you at the Kingdom Hall before the meetings start? Are you early enough at meetings to greet other brothers and interested persons warmly when they come, and to care for other responsibilities? Do you punctually keep your appointments? If you do, then you are a punctual person. Punctuality is a mark of loving consideration and thoughtfulness. It is an evidence of order in your life and is deeply appreciated by those with whom you associate.
2 One way that a Christian can show his thoughtfulness is by being punctual for spiritual meals with the congregation. This shows respect for our Host, Jehovah God, and for his arrangements. What happens when we are even a few minutes late? Premeeting fellowship is missed. Also, we miss the opportunity to unite with our brothers in joyful singing that extols Jehovah’s name, tells of his wonderful works and encourages to faithfulness. We miss the grand and uplifting privilege of approaching Jehovah in prayer as a congregation of his people. Missing the first few minutes of a meeting is like picking up an article to read and starting with the fourth paragraph—we miss the setting, the introduction, and so our overall understanding and enjoyment of it are lessened. And if we are late in arriving at a meeting, not only do we miss vital information, we also distract our brothers who are on time, so they do not receive the full benefit of the program.
3 It is true that there may be times when, despite our care, we are late in arriving at a meeting. Public transportation may be delayed, or one’s own car may break down. A person who comes from a religiously divided household, or a mother who has small children to bring with her, may encounter unanticipated problems just when it is time to leave the house. If possible, rather than missing the whole meeting, it would be better to persevere and get to the hall to benefit from as much of the meeting as possible. Others in the congregation will understand; they too have unexpected problems in their lives. But in those cases where the circumstances are ones that we can control, let’s be sure that lack of good planning or indifference does not cause us to be persons who are frequent latecomers.
4 What an encouraging thing it is to the brothers to come to the meeting and find the elders and ministerial servants there ahead of time, waiting to greet them warmly and to welcome them! It fills us with a warm feeling for our brothers and deep appreciation for the theocratic family of which we are a part. So if you are an elder or a ministerial servant, keep in mind the wholesome example you can be by arriving early for the meetings.
5 Punctuality is also important when meeting for field service! If just six minutes are lost by ten publishers gathered for field service, in waiting for a tardy brother, it means one hour of field service lost that day.
6 Our work of making disciples requires punctuality on our part. When we are punctual, this instills confidence on the part of newly interested ones in the organization we represent. By being on time we demonstrate that we are persons of our word, letting our “Yes” mean “Yes,” and our “No” mean “No.”—Matt. 5:37.
7 Yes, it is wholesome to be conscious of the value of punctuality—how it affects us, what it says about our attitude toward others. What we do influences the lives of other people.