Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves… – 2 Corinthians 13:5
Before we go any further into the year, I want us to take out time this week to evaluate how we did last year in order to identify where to make adjustments, with the ultimate aim of making progress (achieve upgrade) this year.
Our text today says: ‘we should EXAMINE ourselves.’ This clearly means that we should take stock and review our lives because we cannot go forward until we understand where we are coming from and where we are presently. Thus, until you know how you did last year, you cannot have a proper direction for this year.
Therefore, we will be answering a lot of questions this week and the most important question we can ever answer in life is the question God asked Adam, “Where are you?” It is often difficult to ascertain where we are, as we often tend to focus on what we do and what we have.
Society also makes self-analysis difficult, because it rarely asks ‘Where are you?’ Instead, it focuses on “Who are you?” and “Do you measure up against others?” But God wants us to go beyond appearances and deal with the real questions of our lives, e.g. where are you in your relationship with God, in your marriage, in your career, education, finances, ministry, and in your goals? What did you do with the word you heard last year? Whose life did you touch?
Society also makes self-analysis difficult, because it rarely asks ‘Where are you?’ Instead, it focuses on “Who are you?” and “Do you measure up against others?” But God wants us to go beyond appearances and deal with the real questions of our lives, e.g. where are you in your relationship with God, in your marriage, in your career, education, finances, ministry, and in your goals? What did you do with the word you heard last year? Whose life did you touch?
Some have stagnated and put their lives on neutral because they couldn’t accomplish the dreams they set for themselves last year, so they have come to accept the situation (unaccomplished dreams) as their fate or lot in life. However, the plan of God is not for us to be stagnated but that our lives will keep getting better and better. My prayer is that the devotional this week, like a Navigation system will help us locate where we are and point us in the direction God wants us to go.
We start our appraisal by answering some vital questions that will take us forward from tomorrow.
Have a MARVELOUS Monday!
ADDITIONAL STUDY
Proverbs 4:18, Psalm 139:23-24 and 1 Thessalonians 5:21.
Proverbs 4:18, Psalm 139:23-24 and 1 Thessalonians 5:21.
PRAYER POINT
Father, as I take this step to examine myself, help me to truly see where I am, the decisions that got me here and the necessary steps to take that will lead to where you want me to be in Jesus name!
