“Look . . into my heart.” Psalm 139:23 Contemporary English Version
“Ask God to look into your heart and let you see what He sees.”
My thoughts today are that “you’ve got to have heart.”
You have probably noticed that some people are not what they first appear to be. They are careful about cosmetics – what makes them look good in everyone’s eyes except God’s – but careless about character – what they are before God. Which would you think is more important? What does God look for? “The Lord does not look at the things man looks at . . the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NIV.
It can be tempting to just be an actor on a stage playing a role – trying to be what you think someone else wants you to be, or trying to impress people to believe what you wish they were. It’s time to get real! It is tragic to play a role so long that you begin to forget how to be who you are. The Bible describes the foolishness of looking into a mirror but remaining unchanged by what you see, “. . you see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like.” James 1:23-25 NLT.
If you are not being real, you don’t fool God, and rarely will you fool others very well or very long. It is just simpler to be real than to continually pretend to be someone that you are not. Jeremiah, a prophet, pronounced this about the heart of man, “The human heart is most deceitful and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives.” Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT. There really is only one way to successfully be real. Ask God to look into your heart and let you see what He sees.
When David finally saw his heart the way God saw it – as it really was – he was stunned and pleaded with God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me.” Read Psalm 51:6-12 NLT. Every change that will endure first begins inside, not outside.
Jesus challenged those religious but self-righteous men who were so careful about the smallest of external things but casual about internal matters that are of the utmost importance, “You clean the outside of the cup but inside they are full of greed and self-indulgence. First clean the inside of the cup and then the outside also will be clean . . what comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of men’s hearts come evil . . these evils come from inside and make a man unclean.” Matthew 23:25-26 NIV/Mark 7:20-23 NIV.
A friend recently had a heart procedure that enabled the doctor to see into her heart where several dangerous blockages were found. Those things previously unseen in the heart were a serious health risk. Do you know what’s in your heart? God does. Here’s the psalmist’s answer to his dilemma: “Look into my heart . . test me and know my thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” Psalm 139:23-24 CEV/NLT. That is your answer also; it is the only answer.
My prayer for you today is: trust your heart in God’s hands.