You May Be On The Wrong Bus

As Christians we have a lot of things to focus on and do on a consistent basis. We must read our bibles, pray, serve, give and worship to just  name a few. But when was the last time you examined yourself? How long has it been since you tested yourself? You may think that's a little funny to say, yet self examination is a biblical principle taught in the bible. It is something we are told to do in quite a few verses in scripture:

Lamentations 3:40 
Let us test and examine our ways, and return to the Lord!

Psalm 119:59
When I think on my ways, I turn my feet to your testimonies;

Matthew 7:5
 You hypocrite, first take the log out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to take the speck out of your brother’s eye.

1 Corinthians 11:28
Let a person examine himself, then, and so eat of the bread and drink of the cup.

2 Corinthians 13:5 
Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

This is very important for us to do on a consistent basis. Why? Because we naturally assume we are always in the right. Unless something happens or someone confronts us, we may be oblivious to doing something wrong in our lives. Everything may be “business as usual”, but that business may be unbiblical without us realizing it. Our daily routines could be so commonplace that we could miss how we are missing the mark.

Professor Robert McKenzie tells of a unique thing that happened to him to illustrate this. “I was commuting by bus every day to my job at the University of Washington, where I taught for many years…It was easy to get almost anywhere in Seattle by bus from our apartment, as my wife and I lived near a bus stop served by several different routes. Each morning, I would go out the door, jog to the stop and hop on the bus that would carry me straight to campus, some thirteen miles away. This soon became my mindless, daily routine.

And then the day came when, cutting things even more closely than normal, I jumped on a bus and saw none of the usual commuters on board. Strange, I thought, the others must have overslept. At subsequent stops I noticed other commuters who typically rode my bus waiting on the sidewalk, but this morning not one of them was getting on. Curious, I thought, they must not be going to work today. Then my bus passed the normal turnoff to campus and headed in another direction. How odd, I thought, for some reason the driver is taking a different route to the university.

By now I’m sure you get the point. But I had not. Only after the bus finally stopped miles from campus (and everyone else had gotten off) did it dawn on me that I was on the wrong bus. All along I had accepted my own actions unthinkingly while viewing the actions of others as something ‘strange’ that required explanations. Questioning others, I had never questioned myself. You may consider this a trivial example (and me incredibly dense), but I think it pretty accurately reflects our humanness. In our fallen state, we are naturally much better at judging others than at judging ourselves.”

This is very important to keep in mind! We can too easily think we are on the right path, when we could be far from God! Think about the religious leaders of Jesus’ day. How many of them thought they knew exactly how to follow God and were doing things biblically? Yet Jesus showed them how wrong they were. And what was their response?
“We are right, He is wrong.” How many of them would have been saved if they were willing to do some self examination? The bible warns us about this: “For if anyone thinks he is something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. For each will have to bear his own load.” (Galatians 6:3-5)

Start questioning yourself. When you read the scriptures, ask direct self-examining questions: “Am I doing or not doing what it says here in these verses?” “What must I do, what must I change, what must I sacrifice to follow this command?” “Would my spouse or kids say this is true of me, with what the bible is telling me here?”etc. Be willing to be transformed by His word and not just assume you are “ok”.

Also ask for help from the Helper. When you pray, ask for the Holy Spirit to convict you of sin. Or for Him to make you aware of anything you may be blind to. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!” (Psalm 139:23-24) And when the Holy Spirit prompts, make sure to keep in step with the Spirit! Don’t always assume you are on the right bus.