Chapter 9—Examine Yourselves
[
Appeared in Notebook Leaflets, Christian Experience, No. 12.
]
“Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own
selves” (
2 Corinthians 13:5
). Closely criticize the temper, the dispo-
sition, the thoughts, words, inclinations, purposes, and deeds. How
can we ask intelligently for the things we need unless we prove by the
Scriptures the condition of our spiritual health?
Many in their religious life are making crooked paths for their feet.
Their prayers are offered in a loose, haphazard manner. He who is
placed in a position of responsibility should remember that of himself
he is not able to do that which is required of him. Every day he should
remember that he is a spectacle unto the world, to angels, and to men.
No one is to wait to be borne to fields of labor and provided with
costly facilities for doing good. He who serves must cheerfully take
up his work, however humble it is, and wherever he may be placed.
Christ, our example in all things, was poor, that through His poverty
He might make many rich.
He whose heart is filled with the grace of God and love for his
perishing fellow men will find opportunity, wherever he may be placed,
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to speak a word in season to those who are weary. Christians are to
work for their Master in meekness and lowliness, holding fast to their
integrity amid the noise and bustle of life.
God calls upon men to serve Him in every transaction of life.
Business is a snare when the law of God is not made the law of the
daily life. He who has anything to do with the Master’s work is to
maintain unswerving integrity. In all business transactions, as verily as
when on bended knees he seeks help from on high, God’s will is to be
his will. He is to keep the Lord ever before him, constantly studying
the subjects about which the Holy Word speaks. Thus, though living
amid that which would debase a man of lax principles, the man of
piety and stern integrity preserves his Christianity.
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