2 Corinthians 13:5 Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Exams usually mean some nerve wracking event. In high school, it’s a test to see if you’ve been paying attention to the teacher. When you’re old an exam is to see if you’ve been paying attention to your doctor. Both types of exams are scary. I mentioned to some people that I have some exams in the Miami VA hospital the 22-26 of April and people’s faces blanched. Exams are good, not bad. But people get nervous about them anyway. People don’t like them, but are usually relieved afterwards!
These exams mentioned above are minimal compared to the most important exam. That of examining yourself in regards to your spiritual well being. I imagine most Christians, including myself and most other ministers of the Gospel don’t do this as much as we should. But we should. I know Christian missions and Christian schools filled with worldly workers who show no evidence of any kind of relation to the Lord. How on earth are they going to minister something they don’t have? They all probably started out with good intentions but it’s like sleeping in a floating raft. You can easily drift very far away. It’s important to give yourself a wake up call as often as possible. Don’t take your faith for granted. It’s a precious gift.
Philippians 2:12 “Therefore, my beloved, as you have always obeyed, not as in my presence only, but now much more in my absence, work out your own salvation with fear and trembling; for it is God who works in you both to will and to do for His good pleasure.”
The first pilots to cross the atlantic only slept 45 minutes at a time. The 45 minutes of sleep was necessary to prevent psychosis. They needed to wake up every 45 minutes to check their navigation settings to readjust. We need alarm clocks like that. I have a dear friend who recommends that I set an alarm for every two hours for the same reason, to check my soul’s condition and my thought life, and to readjust. Winnie and I have daily Bible studies and prayer to check our souls. Stuff happens during the day though that throws us off. Stay in the moment, watch our words and thoughts, and stay in prayer.
We have to humbly check our soul every so often. Read His Word daily, pausing every place where you see sin, or something displeasing to the Lord and ask God, is this for us? The world is dark. Churches and Pastor’s opinions are confusing. Great Christian counseling can totally steer you down the wrong path.
Psalm 119:105 Thy word is a lamp unto my feet, and a light unto my path.
You have to spend time alone praying daily as well. Turn off everything. Get alone with God.
You have to ask the Lord to refine you, to show you. Alone. Just you! Ask God to show you your sin. Ask Him what He likes about you and what He doesn’t like about you. You have to pray, alone with God, letting God do an MRI on your whole body
Psalm 139:24 And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
There are other ways to examine yourself. A big one is how you handle praise. If you don’t handle praise in a humble, gracious way, that’s a flashing caution light. It shows that there’s a problem.
Prov 27:21 As the fining pot for silver, and the furnace for gold; so is a man to his praise.
Probably the best exam to see where you are spiritually is by the exams themselves (tests, trials, disappointments, problems and tribulations). Christians are like a cup of coffee. When they get bumped, what comes splashing out of the cup tells everyone around who you really are. Christians, when bumped, should splash out Jesus’ love. Not outrage. Trials and tests are your best exams, and how you handle them are your best testimony. A million times better than the typical blah blah blah and sappy facebook posts.
James 1:2 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance. Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything.