July 20

Read: I Corinthians 11:27-28

Examine… your own selves, to see whether you are holding to your faith and showing the proper fruits of it (II Corinthians 13:5, The Amplified New Testament).

Examine Yourselves

The grace of entire sanctification and the life of Christian holiness must always be kept open to self-examination. Of course the abnormal mind can imagine spiritual illness that does not exist. And if a man always keeps the finger of his right hand on the pulse in his left wrist, he does no work with his hands. But dangers of self-examination should not deter us, for there are also dangers in carelessness.

Let us never close our eyes through fear that we shall discover some lack in our Christian experience. To do this is to shut ourselves off from the grace of God. Let us honestly examine our love for the Lord. Let us test our lives to see if our consecration is still complete. Let us ask the Holy Spirit to probe our motives to see if we are wholly sincere. Let us continue to trust God fully no matter what our self-examination reveals. Let us commit ourselves to the guidance of the Holy Spirit for the remedial steps which should follow every spiritual diagnosis. Let us never become discouraged and give up. Heart holiness always means going further and never going back.

Self-examination is always disastrous if I allow discouragement to conquer me. It is always wholesome when I respond positively and courageously. In our scripture Paul presses the need for holy introspection as we come to Communion. But he counsels no man to leave the Lord’s table. Rather he says: “Let a man examine himself, and so [having made right anything that he found wrong] let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup.”

Prayer For Today

Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: and see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting (Psalms 139:23-24).