SCRITINY

It was 1:00 a.m. and the doorbell rang. I got out of bed, walked down the stairs, looked through the peephole and opened the door for a young police officer.
“Sir, we received a 911 call from your home.”
“Officer, was the call from 620-4081?”
“Yes, the dispatcher said all she could hear was static. She called back and left a message.”
“I’m so sorry. This is the second time this week (midnight or later) this has happened. My computer is turned off and I don’t know how you are getting called.”
I took him into my office and showed him the offending phone.
“Okay, you might want to call your phone company and have them check this out.”
“Yes, I will. I’m sorry you had to come out here.”
“No problem. Hope you can get back to sleep.”

Meditation
Lamentations 3:40—Let us examine our ways and test them, and let us return to the Lord.
2 Corinthians 13:5—Examine yourselves to see whether you are in the faith; test yourselves.

I called Verizon our phone company and explained my predicament. One customer service representative suggested my cordless phone battery might be low and therefore was initiating the call. She said I should run some tests over the next several days. But that option did not appeal to me—I didn’t relish the prospect of the police getting another midnight false alarm. Finally, the company ran a diagnostic test on the phone line and noticing problems, dispatched a technician. Steve came out and looked at the equipment. He talked to me in our driveway.
“Sir, the problem is not with your phone it is in our external line. It is programmed for some strange reason to call 911 when it malfunctions.”
“O great! At this rate I should throw a party for the Tigard police’s midnight shift—they’re all getting to know me!”
“I am going to fix this and change your line so this won’t happen again.” Hopefully, Steve was good to his word. Praise the Lord, it was quiet last night!

In meditating over this week’s adventures, two thoughts challenge my mind. Unless I take the time to thoroughly examine what is wrong I may apply the incorrect solution. But there are some troubles I cannot solve no matter how hard I try. I need to call for an expert who can identify and fix the problem. David prayed, “Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind” (Psalm 26:2). That’s a great prayer! Periodically, I need God to show me sin that I may not see or weaknesses that require His hand to fix. He made me and if I will listen to Him I will always have His solution. Something to think about . . . in reveration!

Inspiration
Are we willing to let God scrutinize us, or are we doing that worst of all things, trying to justify ourselves?—Oswald Chambers in The Servant as His Lord