The Spiritual Test

[HELEN B. PARSON]

We can all remember our school days when we were faced with exams. We spent all
day in school-and still we panicked when it came to test time.

Why? Perhaps it's because our time in the classroom was only one part of the
learning process. The other part was time at home engaging with the material
through homework, worksheets, and flashcards-all designed to prepare us for
exams and to make sure we had a grasp of the material and were headed in the
right direction.
The exam brought panic because it was the culmination of all of our hard work
and the measure of our direction and mastery of the material.

These exams and tests were for our benefit. They measured our growth,
highlighted our strengths and weaknesses, and guided us to the paths we should
take. The same is true of our spiritual lives. We face tests and exams on a
spiritual level, but they count for greater consequences because the results of
these tests are indicators of our eternal future.

We must examine ourselves with the guidance of the Holy Spirit and always be
ready to be tested. Always being ready for exams is foundational to a positive
life in Christ. Throughout 2 Corinthians, the Apostle Paul wrote about all that
God taught him and what gave him power to live positively in Christ in the midst
of fear, trepidation, imprisonment, and flogging.

In his conclusion to this letter he says, "Test yourselves to see if you are in
the faith; examine yourselves!" (2 Corinthians 13:5, NASB).

The Corinthians of old fell into the trap that some of our modern educators have
fallen into today. If students are not keeping up and succeeding in school, some
believe that the standards must be too high-so they lower the standards. The
problem is that lowering the standards and changing the curriculum doesn't
insist on accountability.

When we refuse to examine ourselves on a regular basis we are taking God's grace
and salvation for granted. But don't miss the fabulous news: In this test that
the Bible talks about, we can be always a success. Even those who fail the test
can succeed.

If you examine yourself on a daily basis and find that you are in the faith,
then you will be overjoyed by His grace and mercy and will give God the glory.
But if you examine yourself and find that you have moved away from the truth,
then God has given you an engraved invitation to repent and to return to the
truth.

God promised in His Word to receive anyone who turns to Him. The moment you come
face to face with the reality that you have departed from the faith by sinning
gravely and you repent, God in His grace and mercy receives you. He embraces
you. He forgives you. He restores you. You are, again, overjoyed by His grace
and mercy and give God the glory.

Either way, God is glorified. Examine yourself.