Every day I have to straighten these desks.
I teach 6th, 7th, and 8th Grade English Language Arts, and at the end of each day, after all three grades have sat in these desks, each one needs to be adjusted back into the proper position. If I go a couple days without straightening them, there are a few that would probably veer so far off-center, that they would end up on the other side of the classroom. Some days, when I straighten each row, I think to myself, “Lord, I wish more of us in Your church would do this.”
When Scripture tells us that David was a man after God’s own heart, we are being told that David sought to have a heart like the Father’s in all things. And one of the things we see when the Father manifested His heart in human flesh through His Son, is that often times people made the wrong assumption about how God felt about others and themselves. We see Jesus often dealing with people at extremes, giving grace to those who didn’t deserve it and bringing conviction upon those who thought they didn’t need it.
Beloved, the inconvenient truth is that we fight an enemy who is just as pleased when we misuse the letter of God’s word, as he is when we disobey it. Our enemy dwells at both extremes, but he doesn’t necessarily seek to draw us fully there. He simply seeks to tip the balance one way or another, subtly moving us off-center. Whether in the direction of hedonism or asceticism, he is equally successful. And unless we daily offer our heart unto the Lord to search it and try it…
…we may end up clear on other side of the classroom before we realize it.
(Acts 13:22) After removing Saul, He raised up David as their king and testified about him: ‘I have found David son of Jesse a man after My own heart; he will carry out My will in its entirety.’
(Psalm 139:23,24) Search me, O God, and know my heart; Put me to the test and know my anxious thoughts; See if there is any hurtful or offensive way in me and lead me in the everlasting way.
(Job 31:5) If I have walked in falsehood or my foot has rushed to deceit, let God weigh me with honest scales, that He may know my integrity.
(Prob 21:2,3) All a man’s ways seem right to him, but the LORD weighs the heart. To do what is right and just is more acceptable to the LORD than sacrifice.
