Self-Examination

(1Corinthians 11:28) “Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.”

This truth is of such vital importance... how quick I am to shift the judgement from myself on to others. The text is very clear I am commanded to “examine myself” and only once I have been thorough with my study can I then “eat of the bread and drink of the cup.” I think we should spend a lot more time examining ourselves, yet never lose sight of why we do it? We scrutinize our lives on a daily basis so that we can be thankful for salvation and by proofing that we are thankful we will present our bodies as a living sacrifice unto God, which is no great exploit, it is what is required from us. When I fail to examine myself, I then will be disciplined by the Lord so that I will not be condemned with the world. Like any father worth his salt, he will correct his child so he may be furnished for life, as all the cruel, harsh realities it will in time throw at him. I am in a period now where I need to scrutinize myself as I have many conflicting thoughts that rage, endeavouring to get me to lose sight of the call upon my life. In times past when I had to confront similar circumstances, I have failed. As I mentioned in previous blogs, there comes a time in every believers life where they need to put off childish things and start taking responsibility as men, standing up for what they believe, and they must be counted. However, the danger I face is not firstly examining MYSELF, pray for me if you would, so that our God and Father would receive all the glory in whatever God in the future has in store for my life. And above all, that Jesus Christ our Lord and Saviour would be praised in and through it all. I am convinced that if I sweep something under the carpet for the sake of avoiding conflict I could possibly be building wedges that will ultimately cause division and would lead to discord amongst believers and that is unacceptable, God hates this; (Proverbs 6:19) “a false witness who breathes out lies, and one who sows discord among brothers.” Who would ever in their right mind look to have the ever powerful God pouring out His wrath in judgement on them? I understand that God is for His children and never against them, but I also understand what it means to be disciplined by this great wonderful majestic God, my heavenly Father, and although it is needful at times, it is never enjoyable to the flesh. Once discipline has had a major role in one’s life, it must begin to bear fruit and I believe it will, because it is God who has instituted it. He has placed His stamp of approval on the area of discipline. He is perfect and understands all things present and in the future and therefore I am thankful for discipline as it will yield its peaceable fruit.

(Hebrews 12:11) “Now no chastening for the present seems to be joyous, but grievous: nevertheless afterward it yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness unto them which are exercised thereby.” To consider how great you are Father, it blows my mind into orbit. “O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out!” And yet you have shown me the lesson of love, through discipline. I am thankful!

A soldier after his basic training is given the option to branch off into a particular field. There are different requirement and positions that need filling in order for the unit to run efficiently. There are those who need to hand out equipment to provide the combat soldiers with the arsenal needed to be capable fighters. There are also the elite, the selected few that must gather scouting information on the enemy and to do this they are trained to be invisible and they are often alone and vulnerable. Very few apply for this course and even fewer qualify. Nevertheless some are needed. My point is as Christians we have also enrolled in God’s army and there are many positions that need filling, we need to step up and be countered. In God sovereignty, we are left with choices to make. I realise that when we copout on the correct choice we will be subject to discipline. This is a process that may last a lifetime. Moses wandered in the Wilderness but after his “burning bush” encounter he put his hand to the plough and never looked back. Will we be like so many others that shirked their responsibility to national service back when it was compulsory for all young men leaving school? Or will we except the call upon our lives and be serious in finding God’s will for our lives. Or will we find some loophole to worm our way out of this eternal call-up, I trust we will look for grace, to bring glory to our God, whatever the cost. May His love overshadow any doubt that would resist His will for our lives, may our hope continue to squeeze ever so tightly.

Signing off

Tyrone