I must admit to you ladies that as a homeschooler, there have been educational
moments when I've been frustrated with my children. I remember one particular
morning when I had been working with my youngest son on his math. He had
been working for quite some time on long division with remainders....
He knew it well and as we came to the end of his chapter, he was to do
review work before going on ahead to the next unit. I glanced over his
shoulder to view his progress and saw that one of his answers to 12 divided
by 5 was 54! "What do you think you are doing?!", I asked him rather incredulously.
Of course, my comment and the manner in which I voiced it prompted Luke
to examine his work more closely, therefore quickly find his error. It
may sound a bit harsh of me, but back then my son had a tendency not to
examine his work and therefore made ridiculous mistakes rather regularly.
As you homeschool moms know, this can become quite exasperating! :-)
My point for sharing this little incident with you is because I think
we as Christians are guilty of the same thing in our spiritual lives that
my son was guilty of in his math - not examining ourselves! Self-examination
is profitable! It helps us find our errors, our personal faults that are
blocking our spiritual vision and coming between us and the Lord....
The Bible says in Psalm 25:1, "Unto thee, O Lord, do I lift up my soul."
The psalmist David, here in prayer, is lifting himself up to the Lord.
For what purpose is he praying this way? For the purpose of examining
himself through the eyes of the Lord! The true spirit of prayer is one
in which the soul is lifted up... David WANTED the Lord to reveal to him
the error of his ways. Error leads us in the wrong direction, away from
God, amen? So often, we religiously pray for missionaries, family members,
lost friends and neighbors, co-workers, spouses and children, church family
etc. yet, we never seem to lift OURSELVES up to the Lord for examination.
Is it because we really don't want to see our faults through the eyes
of God? Or is it that we don't think we have any errors in our ways....
Lamentations 3:40-41 says, "Let us search and try OUR ways, and turn again
to the Lord. Let us lift up OUR heart with our hands unto God in the heavens."
"SEARCH and TRY our ways..." that verse says. This sounds like more than
just taking a quick glance into the mirror of God's Word, doesn't it?
When we examine ourselves in a fleeting, shallow manner, we never truly
see ourselves as we really are in God's eyes. We'll never come to recognize
the false light we may be walking in! The Bible tells us that man usually
thinks himself right, as we can clearly see in the verses below:
Proverbs 16:2, "All the ways of a man are clean in his own eyes; but the
Lord weigheth the spirits."
Proverbs 21:2 says, "Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but
the Lord pondereth the hearts."
As I was reading these verses I thought about how easily we can be offended
when this kind of prideful thinking is rooted in us. If man usually thinks
his ways are right and clean, then how will we react to the constructive
criticism or correction of others?? Not too well, amen? Self -examination
removes this tendency to become easily offended, for if we regularly examine
ourselves and view ourselves as GOD does, we would receive better when
others come to us with our faults. Trouble is, others often beat us to
the exam, for we have become lazy in lifting up our souls unto the Lord!
James 1:22-25, "But be ye doers of the Word, and not hearers only, DECEIVING
YOUR OWN SELVES. For if any man be a hearer of the word, and not a doer,
he is like unto a man beholding his natural face in a glass: For he beholdeth
himself, and goeth his way, and straightway forgetteth what manner of
man he was."
1 John 1:8, "If we say that we have no sin, we deceive ourselves..."
Ladies, the true question is not what we think of ourselves, nor what
others think, but what does the LORD think of us, amen? God wants each
of us to regularly examine ourselves so that there is nothing between
our soul and the Savior! This is one of the purposes for the Lord's Supper.
Without God instituting it, how often do you honestly think you would
soberly take the time to lift up your soul unto the Lord for examination
and search your ways for the error of sin??
1 Cor. 11:28-31, "But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of
that bread, and drink of that cup. For he that eateth and drinketh unworthily,
eateth and drinketh damnation to himself, not discerning the Lord's body.
For this cause many are weak and sickly among you, and many sleep. For
if we would judge ourselves, we should not be judged."
I mentioned one extreme of self-examination as being too shallow. The
other extreme that we sometimes get wrapped up in is a self-examination
that is too deep! We actually perform a "spiritual autopsy" that causes
us to become unbalanced with an attitude of discouragement and defeat.
This is an examination that causes us to focus on our faults so deeply
that we forget that God's forgiveness is still available!
1 John 1:9, "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive
us our sins, and to cleanse us from ALL unrighteousness."
Yes, the devil tries to prevent us from examining ourselves properly because
he wants to hinder our repentance and cause sin to come between us and
the Lord! One of the ways that he does this is to side-track us with the
faults of others... Beware ladies, that you do not become a "religious
detective" by constantly watching and examining others, even trying to
determine their motives! When this happens, you will find yourself becoming
highly critical. The best way to break the habit of criticizing others
is to regularly examine yourself instead!! Take the time that you spent
doing "inventory" on other folk, and turn it into a time of self-examination
in the light of God's Word. Allow the Holy Spirit the opportunity to tap
YOU on the shoulder and ask YOU what you think are doing!
Psalm 119:105, "Thy word is a lamp unto MY feet, and a light unto MY path."
Did you realize dear lady, that you won't ever come to appreciate new
truth until you have responded to truth that you have already received??
Examining yourself is proper activity in the Christian's life and produces
a proper reaction to what the Word of God says about sin. It allows us
to discern precisely where our hearts lie and paves the way for new growth....
Does your perception of yourself need to be changed? You see, judgement
merely pronounces a verdict, but discernment seeks Biblical solution -
namely repentance. Spiritual discernment will bring you and I to the place
where we regularly lift up our souls unto the Lord - first! Then we will
be in a better position to properly watch and pray for others, amen? God
desires us to keep the way clear to our hearts, allowing nothing to come
between our soul and Him. Who wouldn't want a heart free of the error
of sin and it's shame, free of the devil's lies, and full instead of truth,
trust and victory....
Psalm 25:2 goes on to say, "O my God, I trust in thee: let me not be ashamed,
let not mine enemies triumph over me."
David is earnest for the pardon of his sins - I hope you and I are too!
He has shown here he has drawn closer to the Lord by using the more personal
expression of "O my God". Let's you and I draw closer to the Lord today
too, beginning as he did, with lifting up our souls unto Him....
God Bless,
Pam
Isaiah 60:1&2
Copyright 2000 Pamela A. Iannello
