Examine Your Ways!

Sat, 1 Aug 2020

‘Let us examine our ways.’ Lamentations 3:40 NIV

A guy rushed into a service station one day and asked the manager if he had a pay phone. The manager nodded, ‘Sure, over there.’

The guy inserted a couple of coins, dialled and waited for an answer. Finally someone came on the line. ‘Uh, sir,’ he said in a deep, gruff voice, ‘could you use an honest, hard-working young man?’ The station manager couldn’t help overhearing the question. After a moment or two the guy said, ‘Oh, you already have an honest, hard-working young man? Well, okay. Thanks all the same.’ A broad smile stretched across his face. He hung up and started back to his car, obviously elated.

‘Hey, just a minute,’ the station manager said, ‘I couldn’t help but hear your conversation. Why are you so happy? I thought the man said he already had someone and didn’t need you?’

The guy smiled. ‘Well, you see, I am that honest, hard-working young man. I was just ringing my boss to check up on myself!’

If you’re serious about walking with God, examine yourself regularly. Are you praying, reading God’s Word and renewing your mind daily? How about your attitudes? Are they slipping?

Your attitudes send a signal before you’ve said a word. They’re like traffic lights. Sometimes they flash red, which means: ‘Stop, don’t get in my way, I’m too busy to love, help, or care.’ Sometimes they flash yellow, which means: ‘I’m touchy and out-of-sorts, I could go either way.’ Sometimes they flash green, which means: ‘It’s go, I’m with you, you can count on me.’

The Bible says, ‘Let us examine our ways and test them and let us return to the Lord.’ What needs to be examined regularly? ‘Our ways!’