"Every way of a man is right in his own eyes: but the Lord pondereth (looks on or examines) the hearts." Proverbs 21:2
"But the Lord said unto Samuel, look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord sees not as man sees: for man looks on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart." 1Samuel 16:7(This was said to Samuel when he was choosing a successor to King Saul from the family of Jesse in Bethlehem. It was said concerning one of David's older brothers, Eliab.) Most of us worry about what people think of us. We work hard to keep up appearances in order for people to have a high opinion of us. Is this the right way to live? It is not according to the two texts written above. We might look good in our own eyes and in the eyes of others, but God is more concerned about our hearts, i.e., what is inside of us, than He is in our appearance. The Lord cautioned Samuel to not choose Israel's next king based on outward appearances, but on what was in the future king's heart. The Lord knew David's heart and knew that he was the right one for the task. (In fact, David was once called, "a man after God's own heart.") So today we need to consider that God is not judging our lives, and our Christian service, based on what they appear to be, but based on what they really are - what is in our hearts. He is concerned about what our real motives are. One translation of proverbs 21:2 has it that "the Lord considers our motives." Our real motives are those that come from our hearts. Why do we do what we do? Do we do religious things to impress people, or do we act in faith to please God? That is a huge question. It gets right to the heart of the matter. Jesus dealt with this in the Sermon on the Mount in Matthew, chapters 5-7. For example. in chapter 6 He took the Pharisees to task for doing religious things to appear righteous to people. He mentioned that when they gave alms for the poor, they were not to advertise the fact, but just give from their hearts. This would please God. Jesus mentioned that when they prayed, that they should not pray loudly on the street corners, but shut themselves away from the world and seek god privately. He was not condemning all public prayer, only that which is done as a religious show. We should weigh our motives very carefully, and ask ourselves whether we are serving for appearance' sake or for Jesus' sake? It is not that for our service to please God, it must alienate people. It is not bad if people are pleased and happy with what we do. It is bad if to please them is our only motive. We need to keep careful check on our hearts. We need to weigh our motives. The most effective service is that done from the heart, not for self-aggrandizement, or to hear people brag on us, but to please God. Serving God from the heart will be better for people, in the long run, than serving just to please them. Bro. Joe
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AuthorDr. Joe Beauchamp is the author of this blog and website. Categories
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September 2021
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