Have you ever noticed how many passages warn us against falling?  The saints at Corinth seemed to be under the impression that they were spiritually invincible.  Paul indicated otherwise.

1 Corinthians 10:12 (ESV)
¹²Therefore let anyone who thinks that he stands take heed lest he fall.

His admonition to them is applicable to all of us.  We should all take heed, knowing that we can fall out of favor with God if we are not careful.  But how do we prevent ourselves from doing so?  So far this week, we have seen that assembling with the saints and keeping the hope of heaven before us are two ways that will help.  A third way we can avoid apostasy is by regularly examining ourselves.

2 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV)
⁵Examine yourselves, to see whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves. Or do you not realize this about yourselves, that Jesus Christ is in you?—unless indeed you fail to meet the test!

Taking inventory of our lives is a good practice to develop.  It is easy to allow the devil to lull us into a state of stagnancy which will only last for so long before we either snap out of it and start going forward, or we begin to drift away from God.  Drifting slowly away from God is a danger we all face.  It is not surprising that the Bible warns of this.

Hebrews 2:1 (ESV)
¹Therefore we must pay much closer attention to what we have heard, lest we drift away from it.

Very few people become unfaithful to God all at once.  I am not talking about committing an individual sin.  That can happen at any moment.  I am talking about leaving the faith altogether.  When that happens, it is almost always a slow process that usually involves warning signs.  This is good news for us if we are willing to examine ourselves from time to time.  We may not see the warning signs at first, but when we take the time to investigate our lives, we can detect them and change course.  This is the value of self-examination and how it can help us avoid apostasy.

One thing we must be careful of, however, is not being honest with ourselves when we take inventory.  If we examine ourselves with blinders on, it will only make matters worse if there is sin in our lives.  Jesus once used a Pharisee in a parable that highlights this danger.

Luke 18:9–12 (ESV)
⁹ He also told this parable to some who trusted in themselves that they were righteous, and treated others with contempt: ¹⁰ “Two men went up into the temple to pray, one a Pharisee and the other a tax collector. ¹¹ The Pharisee, standing by himself, prayed thus: ‘God, I thank you that I am not like other men, extortioners, unjust, adulterers, or even like this tax collector. ¹² I fast twice a week; I give tithes of all that I get.’

In this parable, there is no indication that this Pharisee was not speaking the truth about what he did not do or about what he did.  Nevertheless, he was not a perfect man.  He was a sinner just like the other man in the parable who could not bring himself to lift his eyes to heaven.  His imperfect works blinded him from the truth.

We are all sinners (Romans 3:23).  The question is are we humble enough to look at ourselves objectively, without blinders, and honestly assess our spiritual condition?  That is the only kind of self-examination that is useful and will help us to avoid apostasy.  Let us all pray that we can not only do this but also have the willingness to change if we find ourselves doing anything contrary to the will of God.

As you wind down for the night, think about these things.