LOOK UPON THE HEART

Jesus warns against judgment in Matthew 7 where He stated, “Judge not that ye be not judged.  For with what judgment ye judge, ye shall be judged . . .” (Matthew 7:1,2a). The warning is against harsh or hypocritical judgment, for if we use such it will be used as the standard in our judgment.  The best judgment is based on fruit inspection, Matthew 7:16-19.  Brother Marshall Keeble has been quoted as saying he was not judging, he was fruit inspecting. It is important to look for fruit indicating a good heart.  But we tend to overlook that in favor of external factors.  Consider the following event from the life of Samuel.

The people had gone to Samuel and demanded a king.  They were given Saul, a man who stood head and shoulders above the people.  He was a tall man, and no doubt an imposing figure at the head of the Israelite army.  The people no doubt were impressed by him.  But the longer he ruled, the worse a leader he proved to be.  Eventually, God determined it was time to replace him with another.  Samuel was sent to the home of Jesse. God instructed Samuel as follows to “fill thine horn will oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Beth-lehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons. . . . And it came to pass, when they were come, that he looked on Eliab and said, Surely the LORD’S anointed is before me.  But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.” (I Samuel 16:1,6,7).

The heart is important enough that God used it as the basis for choosing the second king of Israel.  Instead of the Eliab, the one Samuel was sure about, the choice of God was David, the youngest, and least likely from the human standpoint to serve as king.  But God made the choice, and He can read the heart.  How do we know what the heart is like?

We look for the external indicators Jesus tells about.  In Matthew 12:34,35 Jesus stated, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things.  And an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”

We need to look for people with good and honest hearts.  They are likely to obey the gospel when it presented to them.  We need people with good and honest hearts to teach Bible classes, serve as deacons, elders, preachers, etc.

How is your heart?

—Denny