Examination

February 24

Leviticus 9-10

Psalm 26:1-7

Proverbs 6:12-15

Mark 3:13-35

Examination

“Test me, Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for I have always been mindful of your unfailing love and have lived in reliance on your faithfulness.”  Psalm 26:2-3 NIV

It is a good idea to examine our lives periodically to take stock of where we are.  It is important to do that in our finances, relationships, occupation, and physical health and fitness.  Setting goals and then evaluating our progress is essential to living healthy and balanced lives.  Doing this spiritually is even more important.  God is at work sanctifying us and making us more like Him, but it is a lifelong process.  There will never be a time when we can say we have reached all our goals and there is nothing else we need to work on.  That just isn’t how it works.  In many areas of our lives we set goals and can measure our progress in tangible ways.  In our spiritual lives, we can’t go about it in the same way.  We cannot evaluate ourselves accurately or effectively.  He has to be the One leading the process.   I’m not suggesting that we don’t involve God in every area of our lives.  He should be a part of our finances, our relationships, our work and our physical health.  When we set goals in those areas we should definitely seek His guidance and His help in following through with steps to accomplish our goals.  But when we are evaluating our spiritual lives we need to recognize that He is the One who works in us to accomplish anything.  He determines what to work on, when and how to best bring it about. 

            The best way to evaluate our spiritual lives is to take time to intentionally seek God.  First we need to ask Him to examine our hearts and our minds and reveal to us any sin or areas that do not please Him. We have to be open and honest with Him and with ourselves as He reveals difficult things we may not want to face.  Then we need to confess and repent asking for forgiveness and help in changing habits, attitudes or behaviors.   We also need to ask Him if there are any other areas where He is working in our lives to refine and develop us.  Allow Him to lead you in setting goals and defining steps to take to cooperate with Him in reaching those goals.  Write it down and keep it somewhere you can look at regularly to see how you are doing.  Remember that God is a capable cardiologist.  His surgery on our hearts is slow and steady with perfect precision.  Don’t expect results overnight and don’t get discouraged when you mess up.  Seek Him, confess and keep moving forward.  When we are mindful of His unfailing love for us we know that He wants what is best for us.  In His sovereignty, He knows what is best and is working to bring that about in our lives. We can live in reliance on His faithfulness.  He has never let us down and He never will.