Does Your Faith Need a Realignment?
Regular maintenance is necessary.
I scheduled an appointment this morning to take my car in to have the oil changed and the tires rotated and balanced.
I suspect an alignment is also needed because the car pulls pretty severely to the passenger side, and the steering wheel vibrates at higher speeds. While I suppose the problem could be something else, the car shows several signs of needing an alignment.
These things are relatively simple to fix now - but if we let the problem go on, it will eventually cause a much more significant (and expensive) problem.
We understand the need to maintain our vehicles regularly - but what about our faith?
Are you running tests on yourself?
Paul was concerned about some in Corinth who doubted his authority as an apostle of Jesus and who spoke against him (2 Corinthians 13:1-3). He told them they needed to evaluate themselves.
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. (2 Corinthians 13:5)
They needed to “run some tests” on themselves to see whether they were still “in the faith.”
Some Christians in Corinth had neglected to “test” themselves for far too long, and serious problems had developed in them. Paul addresses these issues in both letters to the church in Corinth.
1 and 2 Corinthians are letters given by the Holy Spirit through Paul to Christians who had allowed routine “maintenance” issues to become significant problems because they had not been examining themselves as they should have.
Are you drifting?
Christians are warned about drifting away from what we have been taught.
Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it. (Hebrews 2:1)
The Christians addressed by the book of Hebrews were in danger of drifting away from the “great salvation” spoken by the Lord and those who heard Him (Hebrews 2:3-4).
Paul commanded Timothy to keep his focus on the Scriptures and to teach those things to others.
Until I come, devote yourself to the public reading of Scripture, to exhortation, to teaching…Keep a close watch on yourself and on the teaching. Persist in this, for by so doing you will save both yourself and your hearers. (1 Timothy 4:13, 16)
If a Christian begins to drift, it’s a sign that they have stopped paying as close attention to the gospel of Christ - to the Scriptures.
I pray we will all continue to look into the mirror of God’s Word (James 1:21-25) and be doers of what we find, not just hearers.
Keep maintaining your faith with God’s Word and with the gospel of Christ!
Very good analogy on our faith. We all need revitalizing from time to time! We all need adjustments because Satan never gives up. No one is exempt. We must recognize how he works.