I the LORD search the heard and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve. — Jeremiah 17:10
Clearly, deeds do not speak for themselves. If they did, there would be no need for God to examine the heart behind the deeds.
This is a powerful truth for two reasons. First, we don’t know, most of the time, what is really going on around us. Someone who may seem not quite right to us may be very right with God. Second, God searches deeply for an opportunity to reward you, His child, for what you do. He sees what no one else sees.
What is of interest to God is hidden from public view. But intimacy with God brings a new intimacy with ourselves — we begin to see inside ourselves what God sees in us. The enemy would like to lie to us and characterize that as scary. But the opposite is true. It is a comfort to know ourselves — including our faults, because what we know we get out on the table with God.
Be encouraged!
Dwight
Dwight Clough is the author of four Christian books and is an active member of Lake City Church in Madison. This devotional is also available via email and you may review the archives back to 2002. To contact Dwight or Kim, use their contact form. You may also support their ministry.