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THE INVENTORY PRINCIPLE:
We lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us and run with endurance the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus... [Heb 12:1, 2 NKJ]]

THE INVENTORY PRINCIPLE

We lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us and run with endurance the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus...

[Heb. 12:1,2 NKJ]

Paul grabs us by the collar and asks us to examine ourselves. He says, "Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Prove yourselves. " (2 Cor. 13:5) He wants to put us to the test in one specific issue. He wants to know that we are in the faith. As we examine ourselves we must ask the question, "What do I find in my life that is only accounted for by the power of God?"

The Example

The Lord Jesus Himself shows the difference that God's power makes. "For though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God." (2 Cor. 13:4b)

The crucifixion did not appear to be a success story. Jesus did not look like a victor, coming in triumph. Physically, he looked like Swiss steak, pounded and beaten, with no strength left. Emotionally he was drained. Socially, He was rejected -- even his closest friends kept their distance. Spiritually, He felt distanced from the Father. From what the eye could see, there was nothing of strength.

Yet we find that He was the victor. He overcame death - that last great enemy. But it was by the power of God. Resurrection power triumphed over all the human frailties.

God's Power in Us

Paul experienced weakness in the face of the Corinthians. He appeared helpless in the face of their criticisms. But he had a power that went beyond the apparent inadequacies. For we also are weak in Him, but we shall live with Him by the power of God toward you. (2 Cor. 13:4b).

We can tap in to that same resurrection power. We praise the One who is "able to do exceeding abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that worketh in us " (Eph. 3:20).

The Test

When we are told to examine ourselves, we are not looking at how we appear to men. We are looking to see what is there in our lives that can only be accounted for by the power of the Holy Spirit working in our lives. Works do not save us. But we should bear some evidence of the transforming work of the Spirit. We do not focus on our frailties and our inabilities. We look to what the Lord can do through us.

As the old saying goes, "If I were going on trial for being a Christian, would they find enough evidence to convict me?"

What changes are there in your life that would be evidence that God is at work?

We are not looking for perfection. Rather we are wanting to find those changes that the Lord has worked in us. Verse 5 ends, Do you not know yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you? --unless indeed you are disqualified.

Remember:

Change is evidence that God is at work.