Walk of Life- Day 20, June, 2021- Thoughts from the Book of Proverbs. Fear not!
FEAR NOT, FOR GOD KNOWS YOUR INWARD PARTS.
Proverbs 20:27 “The Spirit of man is the lamp of the LORD, searching all his innermost parts.”
Once upon a time there lived a man with eight sons. One day a prophet came to their city to choose a king from these eight sons. Only seven were present at the venue, while the eight one was keeping the sheep. The seven sons that were present there were of good stature. So, the prophet thought he has found the king when he saw each one of them. However, the LORD kept saying, “No, he is not the one.” When the prophet saw the eighth son, he must have wondered, but God has asked the prophet to anoint this eighth son as king. He obeyed God’s word. God’s choice is clear in 1 Samuel chapter 16, the eighth son who was rejected by looks was selected in the sight of God was King David.
GOD says, “Do not look on his appearance or on the height of his stature, because I have rejected him. For the Lord sees not as man sees: man looks on the outward appearance, but the LORD looks on the heart.”
As the LORD told Samuel, even to this day and in the days to come, LORD never judges you according to your outward appearance. We cannot act before God, for He knows all our intentions.
There were two men who went to a church to pray. The first man started his prayer. He mentioned what a good man he is by saying all the things that he has been doing for the Lord. He says that he observes fasting, he gives tithes. The second man could barely open his mouth in prayer as he was continuously weeping thinking of what a great sinner he is. If the same thing took place in our today gatherings, many believers would love to praise and respect the first man for his righteous deeds. You must have come across few believers in your assembly who are not active in the group. They do not take first chance to worship or to pray, they do not sing special songs or regular songs loudly, they do not talk much, they do not have any record of winning Sunday school prizes. Based on the above things we easily judge them saying they are not spiritual. How wrong it is to misjudge!
Praying and worshipping first, singing melodiously, being enthusiastic is not spirituality. It is using your talents for the LORD’S service. These are not for self-glory but for the edification of the Church. In the parable that we read in Luke chapter 18; LORD accepts the second man. Again, this shows us that the LORD we serve does not get enticed by our deeds that are seen by everybody, but He sees our innermost parts, our intentions, our heart.
Fear not, my friend, when you are worried of being rejected because of your outward appearance, when you are being misjudged because of your behavior that you are unable to meet people’s expectations: for you have the LORD Jesus Christ who sees your heart. Keep your intentions right in the sight of GOD, opinions of men do not matter at all.
