How do You Check Your Conscience?

     Jiminy  Cricket famously said, "Let your conscience be your guide."  Sounds good doesn't it?  Nothing could be simpler than trusting our conscience to lead us in the right direction, but can we really trust it?  To find the best answer, we need to look at what the Bible says.
    Jeremiah 17:10 clearly states:  "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked:  who can know it?"  Picking up on this truth, Jesus said:  "For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, immorality, theft, murder, adultery, covetous, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness" (Mark 17:21-22).  This gives us a look at the conscience of
a person without Christ in their life.  We certainly cannot trust guidance from a heart that is not surrendered to the Lord.  Even when we do become a Christian, we still need to recognize that we cannot lean on our own understanding.  Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us:  "Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths."  Our dependence on Christ and His Word are what will keep us from stumbling when confronted with temptation.
     By observing the life of King David, we notice that he called upon the Lord in both good times and bad.  The Psalms reflect this clearly.  When he was caught in sin, he came before the Lord in true repentance.  This is the reason that God said that David had a heart after His own.  Through prayer, David maintained a relationship with the Lord who guided his decisions.  Both his adultery and murder of Uriah the Hittite serve as a reminder that following our conscience rather than God's commandments can lead to serious sin.  So how do we do a check up on our conscience?
     In a recent sermon on the book of Acts, Liam Goligher said that we must daily wash our conscience in the Word of God each day.  If we do not go to the Bible daily to do a check up on our motives, thoughts and actions, we are missing the wisdom of the Lord and put ourselves in danger of listening to our flesh rather than the Spirit.  Just because we have an impulse, feeling, or idea does not mean that it automatically comes from God.  Many people have listened to these "leadings" only to find out later that this was not the Lord's will.  If only they had prayed and taken time to check their conscience with the Bible, things might have been different.
     Each day, we are called to put on the full armor of God (Ephesians 6:10-18).  When we take time to prepare our hearts and minds, we will be renewed, encouraged, and ready for the attacks that can easily derail us.  So rather than taking Jiminy Cricket's advice, let us heed the warning that Jesus gave His disciples in the Garden of Gethsemane on the night of His betrayal (Matthew 26:41) :  "Watch and pray, that you enter not into temptation: the spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak."  God knows we are but dust yet He shows His love to us not only in salvation but also in His guidance each day.  We must check our conscience each day to make certain it lines up with God's Word.  May we be diligent to do this.  Selah!