“Taking stock” is a term that comes from the world of retail. It basically means to take inventory, see what stock you have on hand, what has sold, and what has not. A retailer can’t really know what sort of footing his business is on unless he occasionally “takes stock”. “Taking stock” is something that Christians should do as well. We should take the time periodically to assess where we are in our lives as Christians. Have we grown in our knowledge of scripture? Have we developed in Christian character? Are we greater servants now then we were in the past? We need to take the time to “take stock” of our lives as Christians so that we don’t find ourselves standing still, or worse yet, slipping backwards. This kind of self-examination is something we are commanded to do. In 2 Corinthians 13:5 the apostle Paul says, “Examine yourselves as to whether you are in the faith. Test yourselves.” And in Galatians 6:4 we read, “But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another.” In Matthew 7:1-5 Jesus points out that we need to first “take stock” of our own lives and fix any problems we find (“remove the plank from your own eye”) before we will be able to help others with their problems (“remove the speck from your brother’s eye”). “Taking stock” can sometimes be an uncomfortable thing. We may think that our lives are just fine only to discover that we aren’t nearly as well off as we thought. As uncomfortable as it can be, however, unless we know where we are in our lives as Christians, we can never make plans to correct mistakes or take steps to improve. May we each take time to “take stock”.