Hearts are Searched & Tested
Introspection is as much an indulgent habit of a self-consumed heart, as it is to the soul that seeks holiness. But only one form of introspection is correct.
Daniel was thrown to famished lions. Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego were fed to an all devouring fire.
These young men had their hearts tested unto death.
The Lord's eyes do not reckon people as people do, nor their prizes and possessions.
- 'A man's ways seem right to him, but the Lord weighs the heart.' (Proverbs 21:2)
- 'We speak not to please men, but to please God who tests our hearts.' (1 Thessalonians 2:4)
- 'I am He who searches hearts and minds.' (Revelation 2:23)
Men gaze upon outward appearances (they must, for no man can enter another's soul). It is God who gazes into mens' hearts.
The Lord does not look at the things that man looks at. Man looks at outward appearances, but the Lord at the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7b)
It is a humbling torture to attempt to examine one's own heart. Yet, it is far healthier for he who bends the knee and searches his heart than it is for he who will not.
I the Lord search the heart, and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve. (Jeremiah 17:10)
Who is there who may truly understand the heart of man but the mind of God?
The crucible is for silver, and the furnace for gold, but the Lord tests the heart. (Proverbs 17:3)
Pursue the Lord diligently, sit with Him faithfully, pray to Him deeply that you may know your heart fully before the day you meet Him completely. Our passage across earth is the refining furnace that removes dross and gloss, replacing these with pure blessing.
The unexamined heart can no more gain forever, than the rightly examined heart can lose forever. ~ Michael Cartwright
Today's Soul Snippet:
"The man who tries to do something and fails is infinitely better than the man who tries nothing and succeeds." ~ Robert Murray M'Cheyne
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