Have you ever been reading the Scriptures, and God prompted you to stop and dig, but you didn’t understand why? That happened with this verse today.
“But each one must prove his own work,
and then he will have reason for boasting
in regard to himself alone,
and not in regard to another.”
~~Galatians 6:4~~
As usual, I started out by looking the key words up in the verse in their original language. As I did, God had much to say to me. Check this out.
PROVE— to test, examine, prove, scrutinize (to see whether a thing is genuine or not), as metals; to test the truth, validity, or genuineness of
WORK— a person’s whole way of feeling (inward) and acting (outward), his aims and endeavors
HAVE— said of opportunities, benefits, advantages, conveniences, which one enjoys or can make use of
REJOICING— ground of glorying confined to self
Ok…here’s what the Spirit taught me this morning.
- “Let EVERY man”– Not an option, but a command. No exemptions.
- “PROVE“– we’re told to test who we are and what we do in order to see if it’s the real deal. We may kid ourselves in thinking our service for God is “for God”, but if at any point we become preoccupied with what people are thinking about our service, or with how our service makes us appear to others, or with how better or worse our service is than another person’s, that act of service has just become “fake” according to Kingdom perspective…it has crossed over from “for God” to “all about me”. Ouch! (How much of what I do is wood, hay, and stubble? How’s that for sobering, huh?)
- Another sobering thought is how “WORK” is defined so broadly, .not just referring to what we “do” (outward) , but also to who we “are” (inward). Wow. Having to scrutinize all of that (inward feelings/thoughts and outward actions/reactions), there would be little or no time left to get preoccupied with anyone else’s behaviors.
- The word “HAVE” means “is available”, but not guaranteed, unless I make use of it. The “rejoicing” is a choice. Obedience makes it possible, but I have to choose to make use of it, to appropriate it.
- It was interesting to me how the word used for rejoicing included in its meaning “ground of glorying CONFINED TO SELF“, and then Paul also reiterated it by following the word “rejoicing” with the phrase “in himself alone and not in another”. Think he wanted us to get the message?? Me thinks so…haha.
So, my takeaway?? Be real. Worry about yo-self.