Search Me . . . and Lead Me in the Way Everlasting!

Search Me . . . and Lead Me in the Way Everlasting!

“No one can be sanctified without diligently taking heed to himself. By examining myself in the light of the Spirit, I gain knowledge about myself and about God.” J. O. Smith began the article “God’s Way—Sanctification” with these words in 1929.

If I want to grow up to be like Him in whom all the fullness of the Godhead dwelt bodily (Col. 2:9), self-examination in the light of the Spirit must become my normal way of life. Or, as Br. Smith writes about Paul, I am learning to study myself as a person. That means that I reflect afterwards, (Prov. 2:11 [Norw.]), think about my ways (Ps. 119:59) and let the Holy Spirit teach me (John 14:26 & 16:13).

The Spirit does not beat the air. His judgments are precise, persuasive and perfectly accurate. This is, of course, painful. “Was I really that thoughtless? That ignorant? So brutish? So blind? So stupid?” Each of these actions, words and thoughts that the Spirit judges is one small piece in a much bigger picture—a picture of me which has always been there, but which I’ve previously been oblivious of. However, it has now become manifest and I have “found my life”. Matt. 10:39. This picture consists of deep-seated tendencies that characterize me, affect me, and which cause me—against my will—to behave like a “mere man” (1 Cor. 3:3). The more I embrace this scrutiny, the more I experience as Job did, that “I abhor myself, and repent in dust and ashes.” Job 42:6.

But, as Br. Smith wrote, knowledge of myself is only half the picture. I also get to know God. In Judaism, there are two small boxes called tefillin which contain passages from the Law. These were to be worn on the upper arm close to the heart, and on the forehead between the eyes, as a remembrance not to depart from God’s word. This is, figuratively speaking, also relevant to me today. Only now the Spirit writes God’s word in my mind and on my heart. Jer. 31:33 & Heb. 10:16. I must be obedient to this word, so I can turn my feet to His testimonies and make haste to keep His commandments. Ps. 119:59-60. I do this precisely in those areas in which the Spirit has judged my actions. It is written that the Word was with God, and the Word was God. John 1:1. That is, therefore, how I get to know Him—by obeying His word.

It is not enough to superficially shrug off my sin and folly as “just another deed of the body.” On the contrary, I must sorrow over it and work out my own salvation with seriousness! I have become conscious of sin in my flesh. Now, I must consciously obey the word and walk circumspectly. Not as a fool who continues to behave in the same old way, but as a wise man who is being transformed into the image of Jesus Christ through my obedience!

Great zeal and watchfulness are required here so that the sin which was previously unconscious for me can be front and center of my conscious mind. When Jesus trampled His enemies in His anger and covered all His garments in their blood, He was driven by a tremendous inner zeal to destroy the sin which dwells in human flesh. Isa. 63:3-6. That same spirit must burn within me if I am to close the gap between my life and the Master’s, in those very areas the Spirit has pointed out.

It is an immense privilege to be under the guidance of the Holy Spirit and by God’s grace to reach forward to those things in Christ Jesus I have not yet obtained. Phil. 3:12-14. Let us not waste that grace but love to take heed to ourselves and the doctrine which is mighty to save our souls. If we are zealous here, we are on the way everlasting and can boldly cry, like David:

“Search me, O God, and know my heart; try me, and know my anxieties; and see if there is any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Ps. 139:23-24.