TAKING INVENTORY
2 Cor. 13:5
“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?”
Once a year,
usually in the week between Christmas and New Years Day, my dad would take an inventory
of the merchandise in his store. Everything on the shelves or in the
warehouse was counted and all the counters were put back in order. I
remember that because, as soon as I was old enough to get drawn into that
delightful process, I was assigned to the store's basement. There I could
do important things like sort glass and count light bulbs down in the gloom
with all the dirt and spiders. I guess it was a "necessary
evil" that helped my dad get things in order to start the new year.
Did you ever take an inventory of your life . . . what are you doing,
how much time are you devoting to this or that, what takes priority over what,
what kind of stuff is hidden away in the basement, what goals were you able to
meet last year and what is left over for the new year . . . stuff like
that? Did you know that the Bible actually says quite a bit about that
sort of thing? The psalmist says: "Teach us to number our days that we
might gain a heart of wisdom." Jesus said: "Seek first
the kingdom of God and his righteousness." Paul wrote: “Examine
yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. . .” You
see, order and balance matter even in spiritual things.
If you pick up your Bible to read it and your start at the beginning,
what is God’s first message to you? He says: "In the beginning,
God." Did you ever think of that as a biblical principle?
Here is what I mean . . . When we are thinking about the content of our lives,
managing our priorities and keeping things in their rightful place; that simple
statement should be rule number one - it was for the cosmos. "In
the beginning, God." I believe that the things we do would go
better if they all began with God. Every plan would be wiser, every job
would be easier, every relationship would be sweeter, and every hour would be
fuller.
Pastor Keith Andrews