God Sees the Heart - All The LORD is near Daily Devotionals for 2024

He [Christ] did not threaten, but committed Himself to Him who judges righteously.
1 Peter 2:23

God Sees the Heart
When three of Job's friends heard of the things that had befallen him, they came with the purpose of comforting him in his grief and trials. But rather than doing so, they condemned him, unjustly telling Job that it was due to his iniquities that God was dealing with him in this way. One of them even said, "Know therefore that God exacts from you less than your iniquity deserves," meaning that God should be punishing Job even more harshly; there must be sin in his life (Job 11:6).

Job's friends are not the only ones who had this attitude. The disciples once asked the Lord, "Who sinned, this man or his parents?" when they saw a man who had been born blind (Jn. 9:1-3). They assumed that the blindness was a consequence of someone's sinful action. The Lord informed them, "Neither." They had come to an incorrect conclusion.

We are admonished to judge one who claims to be a Christian and is living in sin (1 Cor. 5), but we are also warned not to judge the motives of others (Rom. 14). Only God sees the heart. Romans 14:12 tells us that each of us shall give account to God. This has a two-sided lesson for us; firstly, we must not judge or come to conclusions that God is dealing with one of His own due to sin when we see them going through trials. God deals in special ways with each of His children. Instead of being judgmental, let us pray for our brother or sister.

Secondly, if we are being judged by others, correctly or incorrectly, we need to commit ourselves to the Lord. May we behave ourselves in such a way that we will obtain His approval, not worrying about the opinion of others.

Albert Blok