27/12/2020
TAKING INVENTORY OF YOUR LIFE
Genesis 3:8-9 KJV
[8] And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day: and Adam and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God amongst the trees of the garden. [9] And the Lord God called unto Adam, and said unto him, Where art thou?
We have less than one week for the year to come to an end, and it is important to take inventory of your life. God Himself loves to take inventory of His acts so in the initial chapters of Genesis you read of God taking inventory or if you will examining the elements He has created and calling His creations good. Similarly, it brings Him pleasure anytime we take inventory of our lives and we come out with a plan of action to better our lives.
In Genesis 3:8-9, we read these words: “and they heard the sound of the LORD God walking in the garden in the cool of the day… Then the LORD God called to Adam and said to him, Where are you?" After the fall of man, the Bible tells us that God walked into the Garden and asked Adam, “where are you?” Please note that in Genesis 2:7, we learn that after God formed man from the dust of the earth, He breathed into the formed image the breath of life and it became a living soul. If man became a living soul after God breathed into his nostrils, we can comfortable say that the life man has, was given to him by God. If the life man pilots was given to him by God, then the above question; “where are you,” has nothing to do with geographic location.
Instead, God asked “where are you” to indicate where are you in life, or what have you done with the life, gifts, grace, promises and opportunities I gave you. In other words, God asked Adam this question to know from Adam:
Is your allegiance with me or elsewhere?
Is your heart with me or far from me?
Are you on my side or decamped?
Are you under my leadership or on you own?
Are you yoked with me or with another?
The above questions was to help Adam to re evaluate and take inventory of his life and responds to God, as to what progress he has made so far in life. God requires you to take inventory of your life. As a people, He promised us before the start of the year that 2020, will be a year of advancement, though we experienced (COVID 19) pandemic and lockdown. We have less than one week to the end of the year and it is imperative that you take inventory of your life to determine what progress you made and what areas you could do better.
In Luke 15:17-20 KJVS we read the account of the prodigal son; “And when he came to himself, he said, How many hired servants of my father's have bread enough and to spare, and I perish with hunger! [18] I will arise and go to my father, and will say unto him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before thee, [19] And am no more worthy to be called thy son: make me as one of thy hired servants. [20] And he arose, and came to his father. But when he was yet a great way off, his father saw him, and had compassion, and ran, and fell on his neck, and kissed him.
When the prodigal son take inventory of his life:
He was willing to put his past beyond,
He saw himself operating below potentials,
He saw those with lesser opportunities ahead of himself,
He saw a great chance outside himself,
He developed and action plan for achievement,
He took a step towards his plans,
He achieved the desired results.
Taking inventory of your life helps you to do three things, which when you do will inevitably bring you desired results.
The first benefit of taking inventory is that it helps you to re-evaluate your life, methods and strategies.
As you re-evaluate, you will be able to identify areas of your strength and the areas of weakness that required attention, to maximize your opportunities and eliminate your threats. After you have re-evaluated objectively, in 2 Corinthians 13:5 We are commanded; “Examine yourselves, whether ye be in the faith; prove your own selves. Know ye not your own selves, how that Jesus Christ is in you, except ye be reprobates?
Similarly, in 1 Corinthians 11:28 We are asked, “But let a man examine himself, and so let him eat of that bread, and drink of that cup”. The key word is let everyone examine himself/ herself: so, exam where you are
Secondly, you will have to reposition yourself in such a way that you concentrate more on your strengths while you work at turning the areas of vulnerability around.
What are the things that worked, for more results.
Who are the value added friends that you have?
Where do you get your inspiration and encouragement from?
After repositioning, it becomes important that
thirdly, you re-launch to achieve the desired results. This was exactly what the four lepers in Second Kings chapter 7:3 did. They asked themselves “why are we sitting here until we die”. They took inventory of their lives and realized they were making no progress. The prodigal son equally asked himself; “how many of my father’s sarvant have bread to eat and spare, While I die of hunger?”
what progress, achievement, accomplishment can you point at in 2020?
Please realize that taking inventory helped the lepers and the prodigal son to understand they were stocked in life. After that realization, they repositioned themselves and launched, and guess what, they achieved their desired results. Are you happy where your life is right now? Are you at the same level and place you were when you started the year? As a Christian, did you maintain sanctity or you’re defiled in 2020?
The prodigal son evaluate his life and take appropriate actions – luke 15;11-17
The point is where you are in life is not where you are supposed to be and until you get desperate and restless to change your location, you will find yourself marking time in a rather dynamic world. Like the prophet Micah prophesied; “arise and depart, for this is not your rest…” (Micah 2:10).
Hope is not lost yet, if you could take a step in the right direction, you’ll soon bring your life to the level you wanted. As the Year draws to a close, you should re-evaluate, reposition and re-launch and I am convinced you will be soaring in 2021, THE YEAR OF (THE EAGLES) FLYING.
