Inventory Time
II Corinthians 13:5-9
Before the service began one Sunday morning, a parishioner said to his pastor, “If you see me fall asleep while you’re preaching, don’t take it personally. Its not that your sermon is boring. Its just that I was taking inventory of all my merchandise last night and I didn’t get to bed until the wee hours of the morning. This is that time of the year, you know. I discovered a lot of merchandise that I didn’t sell during the year. I came to realize how many mistakes I had made. Some shelves were empty and others were full of goods that had not sold. Apparently I had bought too much of what I shouldn’t have and didn’t buy enough of others that were good sellers.” Then he asked the pastor, “Don’t you think that at the beginning of each new year every one of us should take inventory of our lives?”
In one sense, that’s what our text is all about: “Examine yourselves…” The main purpose of an inventory is to determine whether a loss or gain has been realized. We should ask ourselves how our lives have influenced others. We can learn from a look at our past, our present—and even our plans for the future. And what better time than at the beginning of a new year. So, with that in mind, let’s take at look at ourselves.
1. A LOOK AT THE PAST (Reflection)
Charles Swindoll suggests that this exercise is like “standing in front of the full-length mirror of memory.” There are two ways to look at the past and both of them have great value.
(1) Count our blessings
Health
Safety
Friends
Family
Material needs
Answered prayer
Spiritual progress
Since inventory involves counting, this is very appropriate. The value of counting these blessings are obvious. Or are they?
Makes us appreciate how well we are
Makes us more generous
Helps us to sympathize with those in need
We can use these memories when times become difficult
Turns our thoughts toward God
(2) Examine the Negative Aspects
Trials—teaches us patience and compassion
Failures—teaches us the value of confession
The benefit of looking at our negative past is so that we will not make the same mistakes again. As the saying goes, “Those who ignore the past are doomed to repeat its mistakes again and again.” However, don’t look too long. If you do, you may fall prey to a gloomy disposition which Satan may use to defeat you.
Jesus said that a certain man planted a fig tree. He dug about it, fertilized it and cared for it. He expected fruit from the tree, but year after year it was barren. Finally he said to the keeper, “Cut this tree down; it cumbers the ground.” The keeper interceded, saying, “Give the tree another chance, please. Give it just one more year and then if it doesn’t bear fruit we will cut it down.” The man agreed to spare the tree for another (Luke 13).
Maybe you are like that tree. Once you had a great experience with God. You promised to be faithful and fruitful. God has watched over you, cared for you, and blessed you down through the years. But you have disappointed Him. You haven’t been faithful. You haven’t born any fruit. Who knows but that you may be cut down before another year is over. But thank God, He is giving you another year. He is eternally the God of the second chance. So, if your past haunts you, resolve by God’s help not to repeat its mistakes.
2. A LOOK AT THE PRESENT
A true spiritual inventory not only includes a look backward, but also involves a careful examination of our present lives. In order to do this, two things must be scrutinized: (1) our attitudes and (2) our actions. Is our belief up-to-date? If it is then we will pass the test.
Inner attitudes always determine outward performance. The Lord works from the inside out. So if we’re not “working out our salvation,” then its likely that we have no salvation.
In Matthew 12:30, Jesus said, “He who is not with me is against me, and he who does not gather with me scatters.” To be with someone in this sense means to share the same values, interests and concerns. For believers it means that Jesus’ way of life becomes ours. That’s the biblical definition of belief!
One can be for something and yet not with it. For example, you can be for marriage and yet be single. You can cheer for your favorite team and yet not be a part of them. Judas Iscariot was for Jesus, but its clear that he was not with Him!
If one of the definitions of a Christian is to share in the concerns of Jesus, we ought to know what they are. Jesus said, “I have come to seek and save the lost.” Evangelism was a main concern of our Lord. He said to His followers, “Learn of me.” Therefore, discipleship was also a primary issue. In John 17, Jesus prayed, “Sanctify them; keep them from evil.” Holiness was something that He was deeply concerned about as well. And these are but three. A careful examination of the gospels will reveal others.
One day I looked at myself—at the self that Christ can see;
I saw the person I am today and the one I ought to be.
I saw how little I really pray and how little I really do;
I saw the influence of my life—how little of it was true!
I saw the bundle of faults and fears I ought to lay on the shelf;
I had given a little bit to God, but I hadn’t given myself!
I came from seeing myself, with my mind made up to be—
The sort of person that Christ can use, with a heart He may always see.
Examine yourself! What is the condition of your heart?
3. A LOOK TO THE FUTURE
The month of January on the calendar was named for the Roman god, Janus. He was known as the “gate god.” And an image of him was placed at the entrance gate of each city in the Roman Empire. The reason Janus received such honor was because he had two faces. This meant that he could see in two directions at the same time.
Each new year we need to take at least a two-way look so that we can have a proper appreciation of the past and a bright outlook for the future. I have added a third because I believe that our present determines our future to some extent. Change—improvement—progress. That’s the whole purpose of self-evaluation. It’s a good thing to say, “I resolve in my heart.” Its better to make resolutions and keep them for a while than never to have made them at all! Let’s look at some Bible characters and the resolutions they made.
Daniel resolved that he would not defile himself. He would not eat pork or drink wine because they were forbidden by the Lord. He defied the king’s orders. But he didn’t lose out. He earned the admiration and respect of his captors because he didn’t compromise his convictions.
Jacob resolved to bring his tithe to the Lord. At Bethel he had a dream—angels going up and down a ladder. When he awoke, he looked up to God and said, “If you go with me, I will live for You and surely give you one tenth of all I shall earn.” He had nothing to call his own when he made that vow and he didn’t keep it faithfully. But when he did, God heaped rich blessings upon him.
David made two resolutions: (1) to read the Scriptures and adopt them as the standard of his life; (2) to be a man of prayer: “Because he has inclined his ear to me, therefore will I call upon him as long as I live.”
Paul made a resolution to be a soul-winner. What a marvelous thing it would be if every one of us would resolve to win one person to the Lord in the new year!
I believe we should look to the future with optimism and excitement. Why? Because it is an unspoiled page in my book of time. It is my opportunity to practice what I’ve learned the past 12 months and to renew my allegiance to Christ who said, “Behold, I make all things new.” The new year also affords me an opportunity to grow in my faith and be more consistent in living it out.
Illustration: “A Beauty A Day”
One day a college girl was tacking her calendar for the new year on her dorm room wall. She said to her roommate, “Its going to be a beautiful year!” “How do you know that?” asked her roommate. “Well,” she replied, “a day isn’t a long time and I know its going to be beautiful because I’m going to take a day at a time and make it so. I will see that every one of those 365 days gets at least one beautiful thing into it through my efforts.”
Wow! Now that’s the way to live. This kind of attitude is also expressed in a poem by Avis Christiansen, called, “Another Year.”
Another year is dawning—a path unknown, untried.
‘Twould fill me with foreboding, had I no hand to guide;
But He who walked beside me, all through the yesteryear,
Whatever may betide me, has promised to be near.
Another year with Jesus! Ah, then, no dread I know;
His love is ever precious, how ‘er the winds may blow.
E’en when the storm is fiercest, in Him my soul may rest,
And find sweet peace and comfort upon His lovely breast.
Another year to trust Him—yes I can trust Him still,
Who has never yet failed me—as I have sought His will.
His rod and staff He giveth, to be my strength and stay,
And tenderly He leadeth along the homeward way.
As you inventory your life, what plans do you have for the new year? What changes? What goals? What resolutions are you going to make with God’s help? May God grant us to so live that the world of which we are a part will know that Christianity is the most powerful and life-changing force in the universe!
