FAILED THE TEST

Dan. 5:27  Tekel means “weighed”---you have been weighed on the balances and have failed the test.  NLT

       This verse first spoke to me very early in my Christian walk.  The Lord spoke to me about how I was doing in my faith walk.  I had to take a serious look at myself and examine whether or not I was living a life that pleased the Lord or was I failing the test?  I still look inward when I read this verse.  I want to live a life that pleases the Lord.  I want Him to look down upon me with a smile on His face and proclaim me to be His child.  I don’t want to ever be found wanting and in danger of failing the test of God’s examination.  But, how can we ever be sure that we are not failing the test?

      We can live in confidence that we are pleasing the Lord.  It, of course, all begins at Calvary.  We must turn to Christ for the forgiveness of our sins.  We have no chance whatsoever with God unless we do.  We then must be living submissively and obediently to Him.  We accomplish this by taking His Word seriously and spending daily time in it to study it and meditate on it.  We need daily time fellowshipping with God in prayer.  We then need to take our faith with us wherever we go in the world.  We must not ever let ourselves be ashamed of our faith.  We must let our faith shine through us so that others will know we are Christ’s by our love and righteous living.

       I believe there should be a healthy fear of how we stand before God.  Sin is an abomination to God and we should be concerned about whether or not we are harboring it in our hearts.  Can we excuse our sins because we live in grace and not under the law?  Will God shrug His shoulders and overlook sin because we proclaim Jesus as our Savior?  If He could, then He would not be the holy God we profess Him to be.  We should always strive to stay sin free so that we would not be weighed in the balances of God’s holiness and fail the test.

      Are you so transparent that others can readily see Christ in you?  Are you doing your best to live a life that is consistent with your profession of faith?  Are you striving to be the holy person God created you to be in Christ?  If you are, then you are passing the test.  God is well-pleased with you.  Keep it up!  Run the race with your eyes glued on Christ.  Fight the good fight of faith and never slack off.  Great is your reward in heaven, both now and eternally.