March 6, 2018 EXAMINE YOURSELVES
2 Corinthians 13:5 “Test yourselves to see if you are in the faith; examine yourselves! Or do you not recognize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ in you-unless indeed you fail the test?
We are creatures of routine. Routine is not a bad thing, and in fact can be a positive aspect of our lives. The danger of routine is that we tend to get in a certain track of life and live on auto-pilot. We can easily get accustomed to our deficiencies, short comings, and bad habits and learn to live with them, losing sensitivity to areas in which we need to change. We can also fall victim to the negative aspect of routine in our spiritual life and actually fall short of the message and intent of the gospel. The gospel portrays the life of a follower of Jesus as a dynamic life-a life of continually being refined and transformed, a life of growth and change, and a life of action. When the creator of the universe lives in us and has full sway over our lives, life ceases to be boring; life becomes an adventure. In this section of scripture, Paul is admonishing believers to test and examine themselves to see if they “are in the faith.” Paul has made it clear that the gospel in a very clear way calls believers to a lifestyle that resembles God, and it is incumbent upon us to order our life is such a way that it is in harmony with the teachings of scripture-because after all, the scriptures come from God. If we find that we are on a plateau spiritually and that we are just going through a spiritual routine that is void of life, there is a teaching in scripture that will serve as a wake-up call for any believer who is simply living out of the unhealthy type of routine. Even though this teaching, this truth of the gospel, is actually found throughout the New Testament, it is often ignored or overlooked. One of the ‘wake-up call’ passages is 1 John 2:3: “By this we know that we have come to know Him, if we keep His commandments.” Another passage is 1 John 2:4: “The one who says, ‘I have come to know Him,’ and does not keep His commandments, is a liar, and the truth is not in him.” It would be extremely difficult for anyone not to get what is clearly stated or to miss the point of these verses. If we love God, we will have a desire to obey His commands-it’s really that simple. Paul was addressing those who professed to be followers of Jesus but were not living in a way that was pleasing to the Lord-thus Paul called them to examine themselves to see if they really were believers in Jesus and were in the faith. It is possible that by misunderstanding grace, we excuse and overlook those areas of our life that are not pleasing to the Lord-that would be a misunderstanding of grace. Christ being in us is not to be taken lightly, and unless we are in the dangerous place of resisting and rejecting His leading, His presence makes all the difference; because He lives in us, we have all that is necessary to live in a way that honors and pleases Him. If we know deep down that our life is not pleasing to Him, then let us take to heart the words of Paul and examine ourselves, and do what is needed to align our lives, our hearts, with the ways of the Lord. Because God loves us, He will not allow us to go our own way-if need be, He will discipline us and will draw us to Himself, so that we might experience life to the fullest. May we today test and examine ourselves and determine whether or not we are living in the faith.
1 John 3:21: “Beloved, if our heart does not condemn us, we have confidence before God.”
Blessings,
Buddy
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