Test Your Spiritual Preps Along With Your Physical Preps!
Word-Of-The-Day: ‘Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ Jesus is in you—unless, of course, you fail the test?’ (2 Corinthians 13:5)
As many of you know, my ‘mantra’ has been ‘BE PREPARED, BE AWARE, PLAN ACCORDINGLY’. Part of this is a need on the physical requirements of living in the natural and secular world, whether it be the potential for weather conditions (storms, hurricanes), man-made interruptions (power outages, supply-chain breakdowns), or political activities (protests, riots, government shutdowns). Events like these can pop up quickly, even hurricanes have been known to either pop up or change direction without a grace period (though fortunately most form days in advance of a strike).
It’s important to be prepared, to ensure in case of interruption there are contingencies in place, especially for those things that are life threatening. If one uses a CPAP for sleeping, for example, it’s important to note that one needs to ensure it can be powered through the night long enough to get sufficient rest. My wife and I each need one, so to ensure that in can be powered we have battery backup devices that each stores a sufficient power charge to run a CPAP for ~6-8 hours, long enough to get the right amount of sleep in when the power goes out.
If power is out for an extended period, the battery backups can be charged either by a generator or by solar panels each day so there is the ability to recharge them for use every night until the power comes back on. We examine what we plan for those potential events to discover what we need to prepare for, test our preparations, and execute those plans and preparations if and when the time comes.
Paul, in writing his second recorded Epistle to the ‘First Baptist Church of Corinth’, tells them what he is preparing to encounter in his third visit to the church. Paul fears that he will encounter a church with ‘discord, jealousy, fits of rage, selfish ambition, slander, gossip, arrogance and disorder’ (2 Corinthians 12:20) along with ‘impurity, sexual sin and debauchery in which they have indulged’ (2 Corinthians 12:21). In his letter, he is telling them to be prepared for his visit as he is preparing for it, that they need to be aware he will be implementing church discipline (2 Corinthians 13:1-3) and to plan accordingly. Paul then gives them 2 Corinthians 13:5 as the way to prepare themselves prior to Paul’s arrival – as he is also preparing himself in the same fashion.
Should a Christian test their Faith? The answer, as provided by Paul, is of course, yes. How does a Christian test their Faith? Paul again provides that answer, ‘examine yourself’. Like the battery backups, every six months I get the backups out of storage, check them out, recharge them and use them for an evening to ensure they work properly. I test the generators once a month to ensure they turn on and output power. We can test our Faith by examining ourselves; what have we done in the service of Christ? Have we studied Scriptures, fellowshipped with other believers, shared our testimonies or the Gospel message to those who we meet outside of church? Is there an area in our lives where we unconsciously state ‘I’m a Christian, but…’?
This self-examination should bring us to a need to reconcile with Jesus and bring us to repentance. We can ‘backslide’, and still be Christian, but we will – once we examine ourselves – be in need to repent in the area(s) we find lacking. For those in Christ is not we are without Jesus but we take ‘self’ over Him. But Paul also provides this for those not in Christ, who need to examine themselves to determine on their own that indeed they do need Jesus in their lives. They too need to repent of their sinful nature and come to Jesus and accept Him, and accept His precepts and obey them, doing the work of the Father as they are led to do.
Examine your physical preparations, and also examine your Spiritual preparations to ensure when the time comes to act you are not caught off-guard but ready so that you do not fail. You may realize, sometimes after an event, there is a gap that wasn’t evident. We can fix that gap physically by obtaining that which we were lacking, and we can do that Spiritually by praying to overcome that shortcoming in our walk, and talking with other believers on their ways to overcome. Be ready before the events occur, test your preps!
