OceanSide church of Christ
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SELF-EXAMINATION
Victor M.
Eskew
In the opening lines of Psalm 26, David cries out for God to judge
him. “Judge me, O Lord; for I have
walked in mine integrity: I have
trusted also in the Lord; therefore I shall not slide. Examine me, O Lord, and prove me; try my
reigns and my heart” (vs. 1-2). Not
very many individuals would volunteer for an examination by God. We know that a day of judgment is coming
(II Cor. 5:10). However, we are
more than willing to wait for that day to come.
For David to invite the Lord’s examination, he must have been very
confident. Surely, he had already
taken a complete inventory of himself before he made his request of God. Even though we many not want an
immediate assessment of our lives by God, we, too, should constantly be engaged
in self-examination. In II
Corinthians 13:5, Paul exhorted his readers, saying: “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?”
Self-examination must involve numerous elements in order for it to be
successful. First, the examination
must utilize the correct standard.
Note the use of the word “correct” that describes the standard. There are many “religious” standards
that exist in the world: feelings,
man’s conscience, man’s approval, creeds and confessions of men, etc. These standards, however, are not God’s
standard. On the Day of Judgment,
the standard by which all will be judged will the Word of God. Listen to John’s description of that day
as recorded in Revelation 20:11-12.
“And I saw a great white throne, and him that sat on it, from whose face
the earth and the heaven fled away; and there was found no place for them. And I saw the dead, small and great,
stand before God; and the books were opened: and another book was opened, which is
the book of life: and the dead were
judged out of those things which were written in the books, according to their
works.” Since we will ultimately be
judged by God’s Word that is where our self-examination ought to begin. What does God’s Word say about my
beliefs, my thoughts, my words, my actions, and my
motives?
Self-examination also needs to be thorough. Webster defines “thorough” as
follows: “…exhaustive…marked by
full detail…careful about detail:
painstaking…complete in all repsects.” In our self-examination, no stone should
be left unturned. If one aspect of
our life is not investigated, it might be that area that condemns us. In Matthew 19:16-22, a young man comes
to Jesus questioning him about eternal life. Jesus gave him a list of various
commands that he needed to keep to have eternal life. “The young man saith unto him, All these
things have I kept from my youth up:
what lack I yet?” Most of us
know what was lacking. The young
man had one portion of his life that was not regulated by God, his love of
riches. When told to give them up,
he could not, and went away sorrowful.
Yes, a man has to be thorough and pay attention to every detail in his
self-examination.
A proper self-examination will also include the quality of honesty. In essence, our examination must accept
the truth of the findings. King Saul, the
first king of
Self-examination must also be constant. Yearly inspections might be fine for
buildings, but they will not suffice for the Christian life. Our adversary, the devil, as a roaring
lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour” (I Pet. 5:8). If he can find a weakness, he will
attack it. If he knows of a strong
enticement that will appeal to one of our lusts, he will present it unto
us. Thus, we must ever be sober and
vigilant. Paul realized this. He said: “But I keep under my body, and bring it
into subjection: lest that by any
means, when I have preached to others, I myself should be a castaway” (I Cor.
9:27). Daily examinations are
imperative. Let us always be aware
of our Christian walk. “See then
that ye walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise” (Eph.
5:15).
Self-examination will also be a basis for action. When we see something in our lives that
does not conform to the will of God, we need to repent and make the proper
changes. John the Baptist told the
Pharisees and Sadducees to “bring forth fruits meet for repentance” (Matt.
3:8). James exhorted his readers to
be “doers of the word.” “But be ye
doers of the word, and not hearers only deceiving your own selves” (James
1:22). He then taught that God’s
Word is to be used like a mirror.
When we look into the mirror of God’s Word and our lives are out of
order, we need to make the necessary adjustments. “But whoso looketh into the perfect law
of liberty, and continueth therein, he being not a forgetful hearer, but a doer
of the work, this man shall be blessed in his deed” (James
1:25).
Self-examinations are a necessity for every child of God. These examinations are both difficult and valuable. They are difficult because they may turn up some unpleasant findings. On the other hand, they are valuable because they allow us to make the necessary corrections in our lives to be well-pleasing to God. We beseech every reader to examine himself. Remember, the day is coming when “…every one of us shall give account of himself to God” (Rom. 14:12).