Volume 49 Number 7 July 2007
Test: Few words make us more nervous as children. Even as adults, this word fosters uneasiness. To most of us, a test means that it is time to find out where we stand and a time to turn our preparation into action. It can be an anxious time, even for the most prepared.
Merriam-Webster defines test as a “critical examination, observation, or evaluation” or “an ordeal required as proof of conformity with a set of beliefs”. Perhaps this is why tests make us nervous; they require us to prove our beliefs and discern what we actually know in comparison to what we think we know.
If physical tests make us nervous because of what they reveal about us, how do spiritual tests compare? Paul writes about examining ourselves spiritually in
II Corinthians 13:5 (NKJV): “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? – unless indeed you are disqualified.”The keys to passing spiritual tests are similar to methods we use to pass academic tests. Taking enough time to prepare, using the Bible as our study guide, asking our Instructor for help, and avoiding unnecessary distractions are the first steps.
II Timothy 2:15 advises us to “be diligent to present yourself approved to God, a worker who does not need to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”Spiritually, we know that according to
I Corinthians 10:13, “no temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what your are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it.”Someday, our earthly lives will end.
Romans 14:11, 12 reads, “As I live, says the LORD, every knee shall bow to Me, and every tongue shall confess to God. So then each of us shall give an account of himself to God.”Let us prepare ourselves for the end of the test through our love for God and our neighbor.