"Self-Examination"

"The foolish shall not stand in Thy sight: Thou hatest all workers of iniquity." (Psalms 5:5) Any time that we have opportunity, such as when we are questioned by God or conscience, the very next step that we should take, is to examine our own heart. What is my motivation, and what makes me move? Do I aim to please God, or is it that I am serving myself? This is not a simple task to do, and can be much like trying to perform heart surgery on our own heart; it could get quite complicated, just about to time you open up your chest! However, if you really want to try, there is a really good Sermon by Charles Spurgeon from Oct. 10, 1858 that is titled "Self-examination", which is real easy to find by typing self examination in the Bing search engine; I don't know what will happen in google search, but you are welcome to try; the actual Sermon number is 218, if that helps. Anyways; my point is, that we are often way to quick to judge others, and yet, even quicker still to examine our own heart; and blindly goes in the way that leads to self-destruction! In his second letter to Corinth, Paul writes in 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?" In other words; by what right have we been given the ability to be called holy, if not by the work of Jesus Christ upon the cross? It surely is not by our own doing; nor, is it by our faith alone; but it is by our faith in Jesus Christ, and then, by His working in us, that we might be called Holy! The word "foolish" that David is speaking of refers to those that are vain or boastful; and when first looking this word up, I had to question if I was reading the reference number right; for it is a word that means to shine, brightness of light; and is a word by which 'Hallelujah' comes from. Self-examination of our own heart is like peeling an onion: there are layers upon layers to be pealed back, and it is sure to bring some tears to our eyes. The reason that this is so very important for us to do, is that those who's motivations are not right, shall not stand in His sight; which means that on that Day, we will not be able to present ourselves as well pleasing in His sight; as all will be striped away, and we will be found naked before Him! We only have one chance to get this right!!! And then we have the 'colon'; which by now you should know what it represents. "Thou hatest all workers of iniquity" is the reason that we shall not be able to stand before Him, if our hearts are not right; His eyes like a flame of fire, shall burn through all that is not right! The "workers of iniquity" is something which takes on a life of it's own; whereas, those that are placed within this category are ones that have made something onto themselves; thinking that they are serving God, they are so blinded by self-ambition, that they cannot see the product of what they are making, and that what is being made is all about self. A quick examination that we can place upon ourselves, is to ask yourself, What makes me move? Is it His Word that guides my every waking moment? or do I just use His Word to begin my day, and then set out upon my own destination? Seriously; we only have one chance to get this right!!!