Everyone ought to examine themselves before they eat of the bread and drink from the cup. 29For those who eat and drink without discerning the body of Christ eat and drink judgment on themselves. 30That is why many among you are weak and sick, and a number of you have fallen asleep.
Guess what! Today my husband found what he wanted in the grocery store…yeast! He immediately came in and began ‘proofing’ the yeast to be sure it was still potent enough to make his bread rise. It was, and he began his bread making! The house began to be filled with the yummy aroma of homemade bread.
But, for now I want to focus on these verses above. ‘Let a man examine himself’. God’s Word clearly tells us that we should not expect to live our lives in a haphazard, willy-nilly manner. Each of us has been given the gift of a certain amount of days on earth. What we do with them, well, that’s our prerogative. Yet, just like we have expectations for our children, our parents have expectations for us, our God also has expectations for us. His gifts to us are numerous, and He will never take them back.
Self examination is a very valuable tool to check our progress toward a goal. I remember working in a marketing department on the phone. I had a script, and several benchmarks I had to meet to continue working on this project. It was always a scary thing to be brought into the supervisor’s office for an evaluation. They had a audio tape of several of your calls! You could hear it yourself…did you hit or miss the benchmarks. Way too many times I came out in tears as I had missed the mark!
In this job situation when I missed the mark, I would be taken from that project and put back on the ‘regular calls’. It stung, but after more training, I would get the opportunity to try again.
Life has a set of ‘benchmarks’ God handed down to us. He said ‘regularly examine yourself’. No one has a tape recording of what we did. No one will take us out of the situation and move us back a peg or two. Yet, when we don’t examine ourselves and make the appropriate changes, our lives and relationships suffer! When we responded to that person rudely. When we became angry and mean when someone upset our day. When we are inconsiderate to a worker in a store…or a family member. We place a smudge on the beauty of Christ’s reflection.
When I was a child I went to confession with a priest. I was always confused about what to tell him. Apparently, I did not know the expectations God had for me well enough to search my heart for wrongdoing. Now however, I know what is expected of me to be a reflection of Jesus in what I do. I often find many flaws when I look in my mirror. Examine. When I find the flaw, I confess it, and try not to do it again! Sometimes I must confess it over and over until I get it right. Yet without an examination of myself, I would never know what I was doing wrong.
These are very trying times right now. We may be close to the end of our rope at times. Tie the proverbial knot and hold on, it will get better. Remember ‘it came to pass’, not to stay!
So, the bread came out perfect! A comfort to my weary spirit. Yet, when I put it in my mouth I was reminded, I cannot live on bread alone for the nourishment I need to stay healthy. And I cannot live on the ‘bread’ of the Word to stay on the right track spiritually. I also need the convicting, exposing, harsh instruction from the Word to be able to expect to examine myself correctly. One day we will stand before a judgement seat. The events of our lives will then be played for us , similar to my audio tape at work. I do not want to leave that meeting crying! I want the Lord to say, Welcome Home, your sins are forgiven!
My question for you today; If you have not been examining yourself to see how you are living up to God’s benchmark, will you be ready to stand at that great judgement seat? ‘PROOF’ your yeast (heart) so you can be sure it will cause YOU to RISE when God calls you into His ‘office’!
Randy Philip korb
Great message today Donna, it made me realize that I did not examine myself nearly enough. It reminded me of sometimes when I was not very nice to my own father. Many times I asked for my father’s forgiveness and he always did. You’re right sometimes we have to confess over and over again to get it right. My goal if the show my heavenly father how much I love him. Just like my own parents looking for their approval, looking at God from that judgment seat with a big smile on his face that’s the goal.
Oh by the way I can smell that bread from here makes me want to bake some myself I think I will love you both
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Donna
Ty Randy. That comment gives me the motivation to continue to write
Love you two too!