by Tom Wacaster
My data mail
server recently sent out a “test email” to all of our subscribers which read as
follows:
“This is the
tech support for Tom's Pen list. Please indulge me with this test message. Just
trying to solve some problems. Mailing List Powered by Dada Mail”
Perhaps some
explanation is in order. The weekly “Tom’s Pen” that I send out cannot be
generated using my AOL account or Yahoo account due to the large number of
addresses to which the article is sent. Hence, the need for the
“data mail” service from which you received the “test message.” Evidently
brother Watkins (my data mail server) saw a need to do some work on the data
mail service having to do with my account, and thus the reason why you received
the “test e-mail.” Interestingly, a number of you have
responded by sending me an email, for which I am grateful; it lets me know that
my “subscribers” continue to have an interest in receiving my weekly “Tom’s
Pen.” I will not try to respond to each one of you who sent
me an email; the list is too long. But I will use the occasion to focus
on some lessons we might learn from this “teachable moment” (as some are wont
to say).
Tests, for
the most part, are an inconvenient part of life. School children do not
like to take tests; a patient, prior to proper medical treatment, has to go
through what may seem to be a senseless and unending series of tests; the
mechanic often has to “test” his work to assure good quality in his
craftsmanship. Tests take time, and in some cases a
considerable amount of expense is involved. However, most of us
will admit that tests are valuable. Who would want to fly in an airplane
that had never been tested? Or who would want to enter into surgery
without the benefit of all those pesky little “tests” we have to go through?
I think we know the answer.
Over the
past two or three decades various forms of testing have come under fire by
those who would seek to be politically correct. In some circles it is not
“politically correct” to give tests to children at school lest we damage their
ego and self awareness. Qualifications for a job position have
often been compromised and in many instances unqualified personal fill
positions at work all because management does not want to “offend” his
constituents. The downward spiral of the lack of responsibility
among the citizens of this country (or any country) is related in no small way
to the unwillingness of leaders to apply the necessary tests in any given
circumstance. The results have been (and will continue to be) disastrous.
Spiritually
speaking, every soul (saint and sinner alike) must face those “tests” that come
our way throughout our life. Job faced some of the most severe tests of
life imaginable. You and I are admonished to “prove the spirits, whether
they are of God” (1 John 4:1). We are to “try your own selves, whether ye
are in the faith; prove your own selves” (2 Cr. 13:5a). We are to
“prove all things; hold fast to that which is good” (1 Thess. 5:24).
You see friend, testing really is an important part of life. We
must test every activity, every word, and every thought in the light of God’s
word. Only then will be able to stand before the judgment
seat of Christ on that great day with the full assurance that we will pass the
one great test that will determine our eternal destiny. That, my friend,
is a most sobering thought.