"Hello, I’m Dr. Mark Landis and it’s time for your check up.......your spiritual check-up!"  

Today we need to examine something important.  How is your relationship with God?  Before you answer that question yourself, let’s use the ultimate testing device to find out.  What is our testing device?  The answer to that is found in Hebrews 4:12

For the word of God is living and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the division of soul and spirit, and of joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart.

The Bible is the best way for us to find out where our heart stands with God.  Some people want to use a faulty tool to find out where they stand with God. They want to use their feelings. There’s a problem with that.  Prov 14:12 says,

There is a way that seems right to a man, but its end is the way of death.

On the other hand, Jesus says his word can show us just where we stand with God. In John 12:48 Jesus says: He who rejects Me, and does not receive My words, has that which judges him--the word that I have spoken will judge him in the last day.

Since the word of Jesus will judge you in the last day, it is the only word that counts.  The words of men and other books instead of the Bible won’t be your judge.  Our question today is, “how is your relationship with God”?  The only way to answer that is to search the scriptures found in the Bible.  

Are you truly following God’s word in your life or are you following something else?  If you’re following the teachings of men, your spiritual health needs some strong medicine.  It needs to be treated with the word of God.  Jesus said:

⁸ 'These people draw near to Me with their mouth, And honor Me with their lips, But their heart is far from Me. ⁹ And in vain they worship Me, Teaching as doctrines the commandments of men.' " Matt 15:8-9

None of us want to worship in vain.  We want our worship to count.  That means we must compare the doctrine that we believe to the doctrine of the Bible. The Bible will be our judge, after all.

Or could you be following your own path and not really paying attention to anything but your own will?  Are you just “doing your own thing” or “whatever feels right”?  Then you should consider Prov 21:2

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, But the Lord weighs the hearts.

It’s not safe to assume we’re OK with God just because our conscience says we are.  In Gal 6:3, God tells us,

For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself.

So how can we know and follow the truth? It’s simple really, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy.  It takes work. Consider becoming like the Bereans in Acts 17:11 of whom it was said:

These were more fair-minded than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness, and searched the Scriptures daily to find out whether these things were so.

Start comparing what you’ve been taught and start comparing what you believe to the Word of God.  It will be your judge on the last day so it is worth the effort.

Thanks for taking this quick spiritual check-up.  If you would like more information and some material to help you in your Bible Study, contact us at Erin Church of Christ.  We’ll be glad to help.  Our address is:  

You can find this spiritual checkup and much more at our website: www.thelordsway/erincoc.com

I’m Dr. Landis. Thanks for your visit with me. All quoted scriptures have come from the New King James Version. Don’t forget to keep your next appointment with me for another very important check-up… your spiritual check-up.