Day 5~ God our judge

Today, we're going to reflect on God as our judge.

For this, we will examine two pieces of scripture, firstly,

1st Samuel 16:17, which says;

"But the Lord said to him, " Pay no attention to how tall and handsome he is. I have rejected him, because I do not judge as people judge. They look at the outward appearance, but I look at the heart.""

In this scripture, the prophet Samuel had gone to anoint a new king for Israel from among Jesse's sons. This was after Saul had lost God's favor.

Saul in the Bible was described as being tall and handsome and the prophet Samuel assumed that the new king would have a similar attractive appearance, but God sets him straight by telling him that he judges people based on their heart's, not their outward appearances

The second scripture we will be looking at is found in the book of Jeremiah;

Jeremiah 17: 9-10;

"Who can understand the human heart? There is nothing so deceitful; it is too sick to be healed. I, the Lord, search the minds and test the hearts of people. I treat them according to the way they live, according to what they do."

Again, in this scripture, God says that he searches our heart's and he treats us according to the way we live and what we do.

What does this mean?

Well, it means that God judges us based on our intentions.

For example, maybe you were driving one day and ended up going into a pool of water which splashed onto someone standing there, well, you didn't mean for the water to splash on them but it did, you had no bad intentions so it's okay.

Now, if you had intentionally passed there just to splash water on a person, that maybe you just don't like, that would be a bad intention.

Now, God will judge you based on your heart, this is why we must guard our hearts as proverbs 4:22 encourages us.

God is the creator of this whole world and everyone in it. No one knows everything about another person, so it's always better for us to not judge other people based on our knowledge because we do not know their heart; we don't know their true intentions.

In any case, even if you know for sure that the person's intention was bad, don't worry about it, God is not only our judge but he is also our vindicator. He is always victorious in battle and he will surely win yours.

So today, think about your own heart. Is there any darkness in there? Maybe from some pain you've gone through, perhaps, there's someone you find it hard to forgive or some unfair stuff have happened and you're having a hard time letting it go.

Let me encourage you today, everyone has had some unfair things happen to them, no one's life is as perfect as they may claim it is, if you think that someone else's life is perfect, you don't know them well enough. I want you to know that what you feel is valid, but if you don't let it go, it can hold you back from reaching higher heights.

It's always good to ask yourself once in a while, what if God were to judge me using the same standard that I use to judge other people, would I be worthy to him?

Examine your heart, today and always. Your heart is precious and God is going to keep an eye on it because he wants it for his own. So guard your heart from this day onward so that God your father will find no fault with you and he will richly bless your life.