Search me, Oh God, and know my heart; try me and know my thoughts.      Psalms 139:23

Preachers find words of inspiration in odd places.  I've told you how the Lord has inspired me through my concrete work, my plumbing work, and now I'm waiting for Cope Roofing to let me do some work with them so I can get some inspiration on the top of a building somewhere.

The other day, while waiting for a light to change, I happened to glance over at a vehicle in the next lane of traffic.  It had a bumper sticker that said, "How's My Driving?"  You've seen that sticker before.  It has all of the information needed to report that driver if he doesn't drive safely.  We all know there are a lot of "nuts" out there driving on the roadways.  That brought a question in mind, so here's the message this morning.  "God, how's my driving?"

Now, I try to drive the way I am supposed to -- obey the laws and so forth.  I know you are going to see this as funny, but a few night ago Lisa and I had to go to Connie's for something.  I was driving down the street on which she lives and it was pitch dark.  I was looking at the houses as I drove by because I didn't want to miss her driveway. All of a sudden, out of the corner of my eye, I saw a shadow in the dark. It startled me. "Lisa,"  I said, "I almost ran over someone."  It was Connie. She was standing beside the mailbox -- waiting for us! I almost ran over one of my church members because I wasn't paying attention to my driving.  Thank the Good Lord I didn't even nick her, but I could have. Can you imagine the headlines in the Advocate- Messenger -- "Preacher Runs Down a Member of His Congregation." . "How's my driving? Jesus, take the wheel."

David says, "Lord, search me, Oh God, and know my heart." You know what I think every Christian should do; daily we should check in with God. There is accountability for every born-again Christian. When God forgives our sins it means we will serve Him for the rest of our life.  We have been given the gift of grace. We have a 1-800 number straight into God. We can check in with Him, "Lord, how's my life?"

God, how's my heart today?   We shall stand before God one day and be accountable to Him. "Lord, search my heart."  Try me, and see if I have wicked thoughts.

In Matthew 5, at the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus gave some do's and don'ts. Verse 13, talks about our being salt of the earth.  God, how's my witness?  When people see me, what do they see?  Do they see Jesus living in me, or do they see me as a hypocrite?  Your witness is a powerful tool.  If people can't see good works in the church, where will they see them?  Can they sense the savor of salt in you?

God, how's my relationship?  Do you have anger in your heart?  Do you have bitterness that is keeping you from being all that you can bee?  If so, you and Jesus must deal with it so you can be all you can be.

God, how's my obedience?  The sad thing is that people are committing sinful acts every day.  Because of the lust, temptation and pressures, they go ahead and yield themselves to a sinful act and they know better.  Do you think God will turn His head away from all this?  No, I think not!

God, how's my sharing?  God has given us much.  We are blessed.  I am blessed.  I have a great life, a great wife, and a great church.  I am blessed.  How is your sharing?  Are you hoarding it up?  Does your neighbor have a need and you refuse to help him because you might need your stuff later?  You might need that extra pair of shoes, or you may need that extra coat.  Matthew 6:1 -- "Take heed that ye do not your alms before men, to be seen of them; otherwise, ye have no reward of your Father which is in heaven."  He goes on to say in verse 3, "Don't let your left hand know what your right hand is doing."

God, how's my humility?  Are you proud?  Well, preacher, I've got a lot of stuff and it's all mine.  Like the rich man said, "I've got my barns full.  I can sit back because I've got it all."  We know the rest of the story.  God's voice came to him in the middle of the night and said, "Thou fool, everything you have will be taken away from you."  It's okay to tell that you share your goods; it's when you gloat that God is not pleased.

God, how's my prayer life?  We have time for everything else but we push our prayer time to the back.  We are all probably guilty of that.  We put everything else in front of our time spent with God.

God, how's my forgiveness?  You would be surprised at how people remember things from many years past.  "Oh, Preacher, you don't know what they said and did to me."  Well, since you have been forgiven, you should forgive, too.  Get over it!

God, how's my investment?  Are you more concerned about earthly investments or heavenly investments?  Let's compare -- do you want an earthly mansion for a few short years or a heavenly mansion for forever?

How's your understanding?  We will always take the advice of a rumor rather than find out the truth about anything.  We should always go to the source of any situation before we judge.

Ask yourself --"God, how's my witness?  How's my accountability?  How's my obedience, my sharing, my humility, my forgiveness, and my understanding?  Am I humble?  How am I measuring up as a child, parent, grandparent; as a church worker, and most of all, as a Christian?"

Search me, O God, try me and let me know how I am doing.  If you ask this question with meaning, God will answer.

Brother JR Fields........October 1, 2006.

Sermon edited by Mary King

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