Watch your life…closely. 1 Timothy 4:16 (NIV)
God commands you to watch your life closely. This is your responsibility. Christian, the Holy Spirit lives in you. That means you have the ability to act. God has put you in the position where you are able to take responsibility for your life.
This is completely the opposite of what the world teaches us today. The culture teaches you are the victim of whatever has happened to you; but you won’t find that in the Bible. If the Spirit of God lives in you, then you are not helpless. The degree to which you take responsibility for your life will determine your usefulness to Christ.
You are to be actively involved in the process:
“Train yourself to be godly.” (1 Tim. 4:7)
“God [gave us] a spirit of power, of love and of self-discipline.” (2 Tim. 1:17)
Christian believer, you have the Spirit of power in you, so don’t be timid. You have the Spirit of love in you, so don’t grow cold. You have the Spirit of self-discipline in you, so don’t capitulate to sin. God has put you in a position where you can act, and your first responsibility is to “watch your life closely.”
“Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves. Do you not realize that Christ is in you?” (2 Cor. 13:5). The fact that Christ is in you is the thing that makes it possible for you to examine yourself and grow as a result of that examination. Without Christ, you would be blind to your own errors.
Two men are walking along the edge of a cliff. One is blind and the other has closed his eyes. They are both in great danger. The tragedy of the blind man is great; but the tragedy of the man with his eyes closed is greater. He has the capacity to walk in safety, but he does not use the capacity he has.
On a scale of 1 (very closely) to 10 (not at all) how closely are you watching your life?
Go deeper on this topic by taking the free course Watch Your Life with Pastor Colin Smith.
