God’s Awareness #4—Visible Hearts

Yahweh said to Samuel, “Do not pay attention to his appearance … for God does not see as man sees; people look primarily at the outward appearance, but Yahweh looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7

Despite having solid bodies that we cover with opaque clothing, God is intimately aware of what transpires deep in the recesses of our hearts. Their shadowy depths are open to his penetrating gaze. Nothing is dark to him. All of us are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. Our hearts might be foggy to us, but he can see everything clearly. His scrutiny encompasses the motives of our morals, his study drills into the bedrock of our behavior. While God may appreciate the externals of our face and form (as he did with Rachel, Joseph, David, and Esther), he does not judge our books by their covers. “All that glitters is not gold,” but the glitter of golden hearts engages his attention. When he finds hearts that honor him as God and respond gratefully to his gifts, hearts that are strongly inclined to do all his will and that worship him spiritedly and accurately, he responds accordingly. To Abraham, the friend of God; to Daniel, who was highly esteemed; to David, the consistently devoted one, God demonstrated his willingness to acknowledge their righteousness and his eagerness to interact with their availability. We can expect him to exhibit this same willingness and eagerness as we incline our hearts to glorify his name by walking in his ways.

O God, before whom all things are open and bare, search me and know my heart; engage me in your service as I gladly follow Jesus in the obedience of faith.