The Lord Pondereth the Hearts,II Prov. 21:2 CLICK TITLE FOR AUDIO
When the Lord checks us out, he looks beyond our ways. He goes deeper and ponders our hearts. Because our hearts are where He finds the real you. What’s in our hearts explains why we do things the way that we do them. So, the Lord ponders our hearts and there he sees:
Our intents – these are the designs or the aims behind what we do. They include our motives. When a man gives his wife flowers, what is his intention? To show his love and appreciation for her, you would assume. However, if you knew that she was terribly allergic to flowers, you would know that his intent was malicious. So, you can’t always tell what a person’s intent is by his action or by his stated purpose. You would have to know what is in his heart. And that’s where the Lord looks.
Intent is a very difficult thing for others to determine and often it is even difficult for you to discern because you are afraid to admit the aim of or the motive for what you are doing. For some people, the main motivation to do something for the Lord is recognition. For some people, the main reason for coming to church is that it makes them feel accepted. For some young men, the main reason for coming to church is a pretty girl. They would never admit that; but the Lord knows their heart. For some people their intent for being nice to others is to disguise how much they hate them [Prov 26:23-26].
If you are ever going to get in a right relationship with the Lord, your intentions must line up with his. If for instance a pastor’s intent in the ministry is to grow a bigger church and the Lord’s intent is for him to love God and feed sheep, the pastor’s goal and the Lord’s call are going to be in conflict. The pastor would never admit to anyone his true intent. And he would be inclined to use any acceptable method, in his peers’ eyes, that would yield his goal. If he achieved his goal he would publicly credit the Lord, who didn’t do it, and if he didn’t he would blame the sheep or the perilous times in which we live. This is just one example of how messed up you can get if you don’t get your motives in line with God’s. His are clearly stated in the Bible. Yours can be buried in a heart of hypocrisy.
Our desires – these are the things we love or crave. The Bible shows us that we are to love the Lord with all our heart, and with all our soul, and with all our mind [Matt 22:37-38]. But if you were to get with the Lord and let him show you what was really in your heart [Ps 139:23-24], you would be shocked to find out what you really love. Some people love attention. Some people are infatuated with and crave the flesh. Some people love possessions. Some people love a hobby or a recreational activity. On and on the list goes. The point is that we lie to ourselves and the Lord when we think we love him more than we really do.
Conclusion: Would you be willing to delight yourself in the Lord so that he can give you the desires of your heart [Ps 37:4]? That is you would allow him to show you what is really in your heart? And then once you see it, get it out of there and replace it with more desire for him? That’s what we need.