“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?” (2 Corinthians 13:5)
God’s Little Devotional Book on Success shares the following story. “A young boy walked into a drugstore one day and asked to use the telephone. He dialed the operator and asked her to connect him with a certain number. When the party came to the line, the boy said, ‘Hello, Dr. Anderson … do you want to hire a boy to cut your grass and run errands for you?’ After a pause he said, ‘Oh, you already have a boy? Are you completely satisfied with the job he’s doing?’ Another pause. ‘OK then, good-bye, Doctor.’
“As the boy thanked the druggist and prepared to leave, the druggist called to him. ‘Just a minute, son … I couldn’t help overhearing your conversation. If you’re looking for work, I could sure use a boy like you.’ ‘Thank you, sir,’ the boy replied, ‘but I have a job.’ ‘You do?’ the druggist responded. ‘But didn’t I just hear you trying to get a job from Dr. Anderson?’ ‘No, sir,’ the boy said. ‘I’m the boy who is working for Dr. Anderson. I was just checking up on myself.’”
While it is true that only God Almighty can search the hearts and souls of human beings (1 Samuel 16:7; 1 Chronicles 28:9; 29:17; Psalm 7:9; 11:4-5; 23:24; 26:2; 44:21; 139:1-2, 23-24; Proverbs 17:3; 24:12; Jeremiah 11:20; 17:10; 20:12; Revelation 2:23), yet there are times when Christian believers need to examine their lives (1 Corinthians 11:28). We cannot look into our souls as Christ can. Nothing escape’s Christ’s X-Ray vision. But we can assess our deeds, our practices, our words, and our priorities enough to see if we are indeed a true believers. If Christ only occupies a small space on a shelf, rather than being the center of our universe, then something is seriously wrong. If there is no hunger in our hearts for God’s word nor any thirst for His Holy Spirit, then something is wrong. If there’s no desire to attend worship and fellowship with other like-minded believers, then something is definitely wrong.
If we fail the test of our own feeble scrutiny, then how can we possibly survive the gaze of Christ’s flaming eyes at His judgment seat (2 Corinthians 5:10; Revelation 1:14; 2:18). We need to go to the foot of the cross and ask the Lord Jesus to search our hearts, to identify the flaws within us, and to cleanse us in His blood. We need to ask Him to transform our hearts, fill them with His Holy Spirit, and put a zeal in our hearts for God. We cannot bring about the transformation, but we can check up on ourselves.
REFLECTION
- We all love our privacy, but don’t we need to expose our hearts to God?
- Few of us love confrontations, but don’t we need confront ourselves?
- Let’s check out ourselves and hand the mess of our lives over to God.
