Wisdom - Motives
but the LORD weighs the heart."
Proverbs 21:2
[This is the 18th message in this series]
In this series we are highlighting two-liner verses from the Book of Proverbs.
Heart
We touched on what's inside a man's heart in a previous lesson in this series.
Studying the couplet above brings to mind that time when the Prophet Samuel went to Bethlehem, to Jesse's house to anoint the person chosen by God to be the next king.
When Samuel got there, he was looking at the outward appearances of people and trying to guess who could it be that the Lord anointed king.
Jewish Scriptures tell us: "But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7
Motives
Again, God's ways are not man's ways.
In the Message Paraphrase, this couplet goes like this:
"We justify our actions by appearances;
God examines our motives."
From that previous lesson, we mentioned and where it was made plain that:
"God searches the heart. He gets to the heart of the human. He gets to the root of things. He treats them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.”
Appearances
Outward appearances can deceive our eyes. It is wise that we be more like God. Outward appearances mean little to Him, particularly when compared to what are unseen, such as the motives inside one's heart -- the unseen trumps the seen, every time.
Man's concept of beauty (and ability/potential) mainly goes only skin deep. God's goes so much deeper and gives weight to the unseen, the invisible and the hidden reasons for doing things.
On the outside everything may look right, everything may appear well put together. But the more important thing, especially for God is motive, purpose -- why we do the things we do.
Things can and may look and appear bad, unappealing on the outside but if the purpose is of the Lord, God holds them close and dear to Him. He blesses them.
It is not what looks right in the eyes of men that is important but what is important is if it is the right thing to do, even when it doesn't look right and even if you look bad for doing it.
Again, God's ways are not man's ways.
In the Message Paraphrase, this couplet goes like this:
"We justify our actions by appearances;
God examines our motives."
From that previous lesson, we mentioned and where it was made plain that:
"God searches the heart. He gets to the heart of the human. He gets to the root of things. He treats them as they really are, not as they pretend to be.”
Appearances
Outward appearances can deceive our eyes. It is wise that we be more like God. Outward appearances mean little to Him, particularly when compared to what are unseen, such as the motives inside one's heart -- the unseen trumps the seen, every time.
Man's concept of beauty (and ability/potential) mainly goes only skin deep. God's goes so much deeper and gives weight to the unseen, the invisible and the hidden reasons for doing things.
On the outside everything may look right, everything may appear well put together. But the more important thing, especially for God is motive, purpose -- why we do the things we do.
Things can and may look and appear bad, unappealing on the outside but if the purpose is of the Lord, God holds them close and dear to Him. He blesses them.
It is not what looks right in the eyes of men that is important but what is important is if it is the right thing to do, even when it doesn't look right and even if you look bad for doing it.
We do not owe people an explanation to the things we do. But we do owe it towards God, when we meet Him face-to-face when we stand before Him on judgment day, at the end of our life.
Appearing good to others is not our first priority. Christ did not care about appearances. His first order of business was to bring glory to the Father. But His words and actions did show us what was in His heart -- love for God and love for others, and these were evident both inside and outside.
Image Credit: bible.com
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