Gordon Rumford Ministries

The Bible calls on all of us to examine ourselves to see what possible evil lurks beneath the surface of our skin.

For example Paul says in 1 Cor. 11:28 “A man ought to examine himself.”

In Hebrews it says “See to it brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God.” (3:12)

Paul even calls on Christians to “…examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.” 2 Cor. 13:5.

So we ought to check and make sure we are even Christians.

Then the Bible even goes farther in our responsibility to check up on ourselves.

Sometimes we may hear someone say this to us when we have suggested that their actions are not right. They become defensive and tell us off with this statement. In one sense they are perfectly right. We are not an other person’s judge. We have enough to do judging ourselves in the light of God’s Word, the Bible.

We hear people in the Bible calling on God to examine them. This certainly removes any thought of going easy on ourselves. We must judge ourselves carefully and honestly, without missing any detail.

In Psalm 26:2 the Psalmist says, “Test me, O LORD, and try me, examine my heart and my mind.”

Again in Psalm 139:23 we read, “Search me O God, and know my heart; test me…”

What a challenge. Imagine inviting God in to our most intimate thoughts and feelings and asking Him to make a judgment call on what He sees! Have you ever thought of being so bold as to ask God to do this? It takes a humble person to do any such thing. It also takes a person who knows his sins are forgiven and his iniquities are blotted out.

Make no mistake there is One Who is the judge of us all, and judge He will. Who will plead your case before His court?

The Bible calls on us to retain Jesus Christ as our Advocate. He alone is qualified to plead our case.

If we confess our sins, forsaking them, and receive Jesus Christ as our Advocate, we shall be acquitted of our sins. If we do not, we shall have to plead our own case and the Bible tells us we shall lose the case and be left out for all eternity.

Seek Him while He may be found.

Call out to Him while He is near.

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Isn’t it interesting that we all have things we do that we hope everyone will notice and then some things we trust no one sees.

For example, when we do something very generous to a needy person, a little recognition for our efforts is very pleasant. All of us like a little praise and recognition now and then. I am not being critical of such actions.

I know Jesus said we are not to let our right hand know what the left is doing and I agree. But, somehow, as sinners, it is nice when people stumble across our generosity and recognize us for it.

But, I am thinking of other and darker things we sometimes do. For example, the hateful feelings we can easily feel towards someone who has embarrassed us in public. That smarts!

No one wants to be shown as inept or foolish in public. We want to be seen in he best light.

Or, what about the covetous or lustful thoughts that we willingly entertain in our minds at times?

I know that we cannot help bad thoughts from entering our heads but what we do with them is our responsibility. We can reject them and avoid sin, or we can take secret delight in them and thereby commit sin.

Jesus said that people love darkness rather than light because their deeds are evil. The things we do or think that are wrong, we hope no one sees.

But it does not matter if anyone sees us or not. God sees and He takes note of our thoughts and deeds.

In 1 Kings 8:39 it says,”…deal with each man according to all he does, since you know his heart (for you alone know the hearts of all men). This truth is comforting to those who hurt. “God knows all about my suffering,” says the hurting person.

Somehow it helps to know that God sees our inner pain and sorrow. But, on the other hand, this truth is discomforting to those whose deeds do not measure up to the mark.

Hence the Bible says in 1 Chronicles 28:9, “…Acknowledge God… serve Him with whole hearted devotion and with a willing mind, for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him He will reject you forever.”

Make no mistake God sees you.

Seek Him while He may be found, call out to Him while He is near.

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