The Test
Excerpt from 2 Corinthians 13:5-10
"Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!"
Reflection by Felix Carrion
Among the most dreaded things we hold in common is the surprise quiz. I doubt there has ever been a student who shouted for joy at the sound of the teacher saying, "This morning you will be given a quiz."
In college, mid-terms and finals meant the dreaded "all-nighters." Whether they worked or not, they almost always meant you left it all for the last minute. (And no one really knows if all-nighters are effective or not.) At some point in the night, or as the sun made its appearance bringing you ever closer to the test, you resigned yourself to what you thought you knew and/or didn't know.
Well, Paul here instructs the folks in the church of Corinth to test themselves. Rather than the teacher giving the test, Paul is urging self-examination. Test to see if you are living in the faith. Test to see if your faith is vital. Test to see if Christ is in you. You can know the answer if you take the test.
I like this because the administrator and taker of the test are one and the same. Really! You can take it any day, week or year. You can take it at any time of the day: morning, mid-morning, noon, early afternoon, late afternoon, early evening, late evening, or in the middle of the night. And, you can take the test wherever you wish to take it: at home, at church, at work, in the park, or walking down the street. The thing is this. You choose when and where you get to take the test that will help you judge how vital or listless is your faith; that will help you to judge if the divine life of Jesus Christ is being communicated in and through you.
The one thing you don't want to do, however, is put it off.
Prayer
O God, I don't care what anyone else says. You are my favorite teacher. You in me! Your voice speaking to me! You judging me, in love and in truth, for my own good, my own salvation, my own joy! Amen.
Excerpt from 2 Corinthians 13:5-10
"Examine yourselves to see whether you are living in the faith. Test yourselves. Do you not realize that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless, indeed, you fail to meet the test!"
Reflection by Felix Carrion
Among the most dreaded things we hold in common is the surprise quiz. I doubt there has ever been a student who shouted for joy at the sound of the teacher saying, "This morning you will be given a quiz."
In college, mid-terms and finals meant the dreaded "all-nighters." Whether they worked or not, they almost always meant you left it all for the last minute. (And no one really knows if all-nighters are effective or not.) At some point in the night, or as the sun made its appearance bringing you ever closer to the test, you resigned yourself to what you thought you knew and/or didn't know.
Well, Paul here instructs the folks in the church of Corinth to test themselves. Rather than the teacher giving the test, Paul is urging self-examination. Test to see if you are living in the faith. Test to see if your faith is vital. Test to see if Christ is in you. You can know the answer if you take the test.
I like this because the administrator and taker of the test are one and the same. Really! You can take it any day, week or year. You can take it at any time of the day: morning, mid-morning, noon, early afternoon, late afternoon, early evening, late evening, or in the middle of the night. And, you can take the test wherever you wish to take it: at home, at church, at work, in the park, or walking down the street. The thing is this. You choose when and where you get to take the test that will help you judge how vital or listless is your faith; that will help you to judge if the divine life of Jesus Christ is being communicated in and through you.
The one thing you don't want to do, however, is put it off.
Prayer
O God, I don't care what anyone else says. You are my favorite teacher. You in me! Your voice speaking to me! You judging me, in love and in truth, for my own good, my own salvation, my own joy! Amen.
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