"Examine Yourself"

 "All his days also he eateth in darkness, and he hath much sorrow and wrath with his sickness." (Ecclesiastes 5:17 KJV)

  "So anyone who eats this bread or drinks this cup of the Lord unworthily is guilty of sinning against the body and blood of the Lord. That is why you should examine yourselves before eating the bread and drinking the cup. For if you eat the bread and drink the cup without honoring the body of Christ, you are eating and drinking God's judgment upon yourself. That is why many of you are weak and sick and some have even died. But if we would examine ourselves, we would not be judged by God in this way. Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world." (1 Corinthians 11:27-32 NLT)

 Yesterday evening we had communion at church, and the message that was given to go along with partaking of the elements, had to do with remembering what Jesus did, not only on the cross, but in several of the things He did here on earth. As I listened to these illustrations of His doing things, I couldn't help but think of some of what I had done, as in, the things which might have been done honoring the Lord.

 It is rather interesting how we tend to remember those things which were wrong in our lives, more than the things we did that were right; but I believe that helps to keep us humble and dependent upon the Lord's strength, not our own. The more we think we can do this or that, the more we find it just doesn't work the way we planned it. We sometimes think God's asking us to do something, means He is asking us do it without His help or His guidance. Big mistake! 

 I know that I have shared this before, but I feel it needs to be shared again. I felt God telling me to get my family doing the Family Walk, each and every day. When we started it, I felt as though it wasn't going to be easy, and I depended upon the Lord's help to get it done. As I made my way home from work, I would pray about the lesson, about the urgency of making this happen, and asking the Holy Spirit to guide us as a family.

 After several months, everything seemed like it worked like a well-oiled machine, and the urgency was gone. But something else changed also, because I seemed to depend less upon the Lord's help, keeping it together, and more upon my own. When it stopped, it stopped because I let it happen! I would come home from work, finding my wife and son waiting for me to show up, eager to begin the lesson; even sharing together about what might be taught. 

 But, because of my own foolishness, I let it stop! The urgency had vanished because I had fallen into dealing with work, more than what should have been my first priorities! Your family needs to come before work! If you are not spending time with your family because of your work, then you need to change your work habits, or find a new job that doesn't take you away from your family! 

 Whatever you do, don't ever start doing God's work on your own! We might be the hands and feet, but we will never be the Head! We might think we are, for a season, finding out rather quickly it isn't so. If I could do it all over again, I would pray to do it differently; but that is not possible, we don't get to go back and try again. 

 On a good note: God's discipline on our lives is a very good sign, because it means that we won't be condemned for our stupid mistakes...

"Satisfy us each morning with your unfailing love, so we may sing for joy to the ends of our lives. Give us gladness in proportion to our former misery! Replace the evil years with good. Let us, your servants, see you work again; let our children see your glory. And may the Lord our God show us his approval and make our efforts successful. Yes, make our efforts successful!" (PSALM 90:14-17 NLT)