“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” Jeremiah 17:10 NIV
When God speaks, it is important to listen attentively. When God speaks, He comes from a position of power, authority, knowledge, wisdom and understanding. He is not like man, full of air and empty boasts, who can't even guarantee the next minute, not to talk of the next day. This is the creator of all that my eyes see, ears hear or the heart conceive or perceive. His wisdom is such that no man can fathom, limit or explain, yet it cannot be ignored. When he speaks, he is not asking for my permission, or trying to impress me with high-sounding words; he just wants me to take him at his word. I do have the choice of response: to embrace or reject him. There is no fence or middle ground here.
What is the focus here? It is man's heart. The same chapter says the heart of man is corrupt and desperately wicked. It then asks a question: "who can know it"? The response is today's extract. I am yet to find that thing that its creator cannot control. God has not created or formed anything that will rebel against him and get away with it. If God is able to successfully search the heart, why does the heart ever think it can get away with pretence and hypocrisy? We put up a show, milking the praise and applause of men, forgetting that human adulation has never been the measure of divine approval. No heart can deceive the one who formed its compartments.
There is a reward in view. I am not called by God to seek him in vain. He calls men to himself, equips them for service, stays with them as they work and guarantees them a reward for labour as defined by him, not them. It is not reward just for the sake of work, but reward for work that he commissions and ordains. This is where it gets tricky: I must not be content with just being busy; I must be busy at that which attracts God's reward. He judges by his own truth, not the opinion of men. He judges by what he knows, not what man thinks. My greatest service to him then will be total commitment to the discovery, pursuit and fulfilment of God's purpose for my life. That is His truth, and I will do myself eternal good if I align my life with His truth. Nothing else matters. God's time of favour is here.
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