Odedeyi Emmanuel

The Power of Self Examination




“When he finally came to his senses, he said to himself, ‘At home
even the hired men have food enough to spare, and here I am, dying
of hunger! I will go home to my father and say, “Father, I have sinned
against both heaven and you, and I am no longer worthy of being called
your son. Please take me on as a hired man.”’
Luke 15 vs 17-19 (NLT)


As it remains just a few hours for this year to run out, it is important for us to start asking questions whether we have actually made any good out of the last 364 days. The reason for this is not far-fetched as it is one of the ways to avoid repeating our mistakes or carrying over to a brand new year issues we can easily tackle even as this year wraps up.
Admittedly, while many are counting their blessings, others are recording their losses, however, there is no doubt we all have a reason to thank God, that is, for keeping us in spite of the terrible seasons of this outgoing year – from the global economic crises, oil price decline to stock market failure and loss of life-long investments in shares and property.
We should still thank God because it could have been worse according to a saying that;

“If you have lost ANYTHING, God is the reason you’ve not lost EVERYTHING”

Having said that, I believe we all have one lesson or the other to learn out of 2008. For instance, the victory of my birthday mate, Obama has personally taught and re-validated to us that a man with a dream with corresponding passion to power it is literarily UNSTOPPABLE by any force whether racial, color, or even humbling background.
The story of the ‘guy’ called the Prodigal Son or the Lost Son in the scriptures that I used at the beginning of this post comes to mind when we talk about the Power Of Self Examination. For the purpose of this note, this guy woke up one day and requested to collect his own portion of the father’s will while the father was still alive. He took it and travelled to a far country to enjoy life through what was called “riotous, reckless, loose and wild living.”
After sometime, he ran out of resources. It got so bad that he had to share meal with the pigs, but his turning point when it was recorded that he “came to himself or came to his senses”

Dear friend, does this describe you in 2008? Did you ‘enjoy’ yourself so much that you didn’t invest at all? Was your relationship with your family and with God marred because of your attitude problem? Did you develop your skills and advanced in your career or profession?
The time for self examination is the time for stock-taking, time for self interrogation, time to avoid making the same mistakes. Let us examine some of the areas of Self-Examination.

FINANCES
There is need to examine how we have fared this year in the light of our finances. Have I been a spend-thrift or one who is cautious with money? Do I have a budget or just decide on what to spend on when the money gets to my hand? If you decide on what to spend on only at the point when the money comes, there’s every likelihood that you only spend on wants rather than necessities. Was I faithful with my tithe this year? Tithe is what a seed is to a farmer. A farmer that eats the seed with the fruit should not expect any harvest in the coming season. A tithe is one-tenth of your income that you put in God’s hand to preserve the remaining 90 percent.
Have I been faithful in my parental obligations? Does something flows from me to my parents monthly, quarterly or annually? It holds a lot of blessings.
Did I help anybody financially or materially this year or have I been tight-fisted?

RELATIONSHIP
In the story of the prodigal son, he had a relationship problem with the father and possibly with the brother because it could be implied that the father would have advised him to consider his decision but no one could speak to him. Some people claim they have some kind of Principle that when they are made up on a particular matter, not even God could stop them. Such kind of principled living could be erroneous. How has your relationship with God been in the ending year 2008? Do you scarcely observe a quiet time every morning before setting out? Do you even have any relationship at with your creator at all? Have you made Him Lord of all? All these will need to be made right in the coming year 2009.

CAREER
The prodigal spent all and never saw any need to work or improve on his skills (if he had any skill at all). He just saw it as an opportunity out of home and that he’s not answerable to anyone. Does that describe how we lead our lives outside home? We know no one can call us to order because we are now ‘adults’. But someone has said that we will not be significantly different from who we are now in 5 years time except for the books we read and the company we keep. What books did you read in 2008? We are supposed to be upwardly mobile in our career.

“Only a fool does the same thing and still expects a different result. It takes a change of approach to get a change of result”

We continuously seek for ways of doing what we do even better.

In conclusion, forget the past- whether positive or negative. Let everything for 2008 pass with it. We should not let the failures of 2008 hinder us from pursuing the dreams we believe in as we move to 2009.
Please remember that the prodigal after coming to his senses, took steps and was warmly received back by the father.
The virtues of self examination is immense, let us explore it so as not to keep re-inventing the wheels.

Have a fulfilling 2009!