Numbers 9:1-7: in context

As Israel keeps the Passover in the wilderness, a difficulty arises. Some men had become ceremonially unclean by contact with a dead body, and so could not keep the Passover on the appointed day. But rather than simply accepting their exclusion, they come to Moses with an earnest plea: we are unclean; why should we be kept back from offering the offering of the LORD at its appointed time among the children of Israel? They did not want to miss the worship of God, and pressed to find a way to be included.

What is striking about these men is their earnest desire not to be kept from worshiping God. They had a legitimate reason for exclusion; they were unclean, and could not keep the Passover on the day. They could have simply accepted this and let the occasion pass. But they did not want to miss offering to the LORD; they came to Moses, pressing, why should we be kept back? They longed to be included in the worship of God, and were unwilling to let anything keep them from it if a way could be found. And God honored their desire, providing a way for them to keep the Passover a month later. Their earnest longing to worship was met by God's provision. This is a desire worth having, and it searches our own. These men longed to worship God, and were troubled at being kept from it; they pressed to find a way to be included. And this reveals a heart that treasures the worship of God, that does not treat it as a burden to be excused from but as a privilege not to be missed. Many of us are more inclined to look for reasons to be excused from worship than to press, as these men did, for a way to be included. My soul thirsts for God, the psalmist says, for the living God; when shall I come and appear before God? The heart that treasures God longs to worship him and is troubled at being kept from it. This searches whether we long to worship God or treat it as optional. Do we have the earnest desire of these men, who did not want to be kept from offering to the LORD and pressed to find a way to be included? Or do we more readily look for reasons to excuse ourselves, treating worship as a burden rather than a privilege? These men's longing not to be kept from worship reveals a heart that treasures God; and God honored it, making a way for them. This calls us to treasure the worship of God and to desire, as these men did, not to be kept from it. My soul longs, the psalmist says, and even faints for the courts of the LORD. The men who were unclean pressed for a way to worship rather than accepting exclusion; and their earnest desire not to be kept from God invites us to treasure the worship of God, longing to be included in it rather than looking for reasons to be excused, and trusting that God honors and makes a way for the heart that earnestly desires to worship him.

Do I have the earnest desire of the unclean men who did not want to be kept from offering to the LORD but pressed to find a way to be included, or am I more inclined to look for reasons to excuse myself from worship, treating it as a burden rather than a privilege, and can their longing not to be kept from worshiping God, which God honored by making a way for them, move me to treasure the worship of God and to desire, as they did, to be included in it rather than excused from it?