Testings

Do you remember getting surprise tests in high school? We referred to them as "pop" quizzes. That was probably because our GPA "popped" after taking them. We usually hadn't studied, and the results often made that fact rather obvious.

The point the teachers were trying to make with these pop quizzes was that we should ALWAYS be studying, and always be prepared.

"Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have." - 1 Peter 3:15

Hmm. I should have listened to Peter.

We had another youth night at church a week ago this past Friday. I decided to give the kids a pop quiz. Ha! Payback time! The student has become the teacher!

Well, that failed.

After providing everyone with paper and pencil, I asked the "students" a question and worded it this way:

"Write down who Jesus is to you."

Two kids literally wrote "Who Jesus is to you." Funny. But that wasn't the answer I was looking for. The wording of my question failed. I am still a "student." Perhaps God was giving ME a pop quiz, to show me that I was the one who was not prepared.

I am reading a book right now called Questioning Evangelism by Randy Newman. I've read it before but this is an updated version, better reflecting today's questions and social media. It is part of my effort to "always be prepared," as Peter suggested.

James 1:3 says, "the testing of your faith produces endurance." How much testing can we endure? That's the real question. Job has an answer for that.

"Though He slay me, yet will I hope in Him." - Job 13:15.

So, how can we possibly pass God's tests? Reading the Bible and doing what it says might be a good start.

What are you going through in your life right now? Uncertainty at work? A friend battling cancer? Another friend recovering from addiction? Maybe it's loneliness.

As we watch the news it's easy to see that "the world" does not know God. If they did, there would be no wars, no killing, no hunger. Only love. WE have failed the test.

"A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another: just as I have loved you, you also are to love one another. ³⁵By this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” - John 13:34-35

Jesus mentions 'love' FOUR TIMES in two verses. And STILL we don't get it. It's a simple test. Yet, we humans fail to pass it. And it is "the first and greatest commandment" according to Jesus in Matthew 22:37

Let us endeavor to not only PASS this test today, but get an A+.