This Is Only A Test

Do you remember that feeling you would get just before a big test/exam in high school or college? Anxiety...pressure! Forget about the pop quizes! Those would just magnify everything!

We just finished up a series in Huddle on "Integrity", and I talked this past week-end about the "test of integrity".

Pop quizes will freak you out! "Hey! I didn't know I was going to have to know this today." "I thought you would let me know when I would need to be ready!" True? We want to be told when to expect the test. No surprises, thank you.

However...

• pop quizes don't work like that
• life rarely works like that
• God doesn't work like that

God has not come to me and said, "OK, Russ. Wednesday at 7:36AM you are going to be tested. I know you have not done anything up to this point to prepare...but!"

I was a good student in college and I made excellent grades. I didn't have to stay up all night before a big exam and drink pot after pot of coffee and try to cram every bit of information I could into my brain to try to slide through with a passing grade.

I studied each day. Every day. I would re-write my notes. I would re-read the text. I was ready when the test came because I prepared for it all along the way. It was a way of life for me.

That's how we have to handle our walks as followers of Christ. We have to spend time each day in God's Word and in prayer. It has to be a way of life.

Will we be ready for the test? It's coming.