PROVERBS 21:2 Every way of man is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts.
On a social media platform a few days ago someone was asking what advice I would give my younger self and the main thing I could think of was that I wish I had written more about and done more Bible studies than movie reviews. I do have a pretty comprehensive study of Ephesians that I want to start posting, but the idea is that in the end, you are all better off reading about scripture wherever you can and applying it to your lives than you are reading my thoughts on movies. I am personally better off in the Word and spreading the gospel than I am posting movie reviews. Now I do like movies and I do think that God wants us to do things we enjoy that are not sin or do not lead to sin. However, when it comes to what is important. The reviews will be burned and the things that God deems worthy in my life will not. He weighs the hearts.
We get a similar statement in Proverbs 16:2. "All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes, but the weights the spirits. Here was have the same concepts, "right" and "pure" are things I think we subconsciously think to ourselves to justify whatever it is we are doing. Sometimes we will be right and fall in line with God and other times we won't. The concept here is to acknowledge that "we" do not make that decision. Proverbs 24:12 really expands on the idea of the Lord weighing hearts. "If you say, "Surely we did not know this," Does not He who weighs the hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?" This is a powerful verse I think our leaders, fathers mothers, and so on really need to embrace.
There was a talk show the other day and someone was saying that God is tolerant. That is a concept we don't find in scripture. God has grace on us, but He is so intolerant of sin He doesn't allow it to enter heaven. We must be seen through Christ's death on the cross and cleansed by faith before we can ever join Him in eternity. So what and how we address various things ought to reflect a disdain for sin in people's lives. Yes, of course affording them the freedom to do so, but addressing those things in love and truth.
The person speaking was leaning on their own defense of their actions with no regard for what God really has to say on the matter. To get back to Proverbs 21:2, the Hebrew word for "pondereth" is "weigh" which is why the word "weighs" is used in the New King James version of the bible. The word is takan and it means to balance, i.e. measure out (by weight or dimension); figuratively, arrange, equalize, through the idea of leveling (ment. estimate, test):--bear up, direct, be ((un-))equal, mete, ponder, tell, weigh. So God is going to take a look at what we've done and He determines what it really is and what it really isn't along with its value etc. I can't stress enough - that we do not determine that, all we can do is try to live how we are instructed by God in His Word. The words "hearts" in Proverbs 21:2 does not have a specific definition but contextually we get enough information from Proverbs 24:12 to get the message. "will He not render to each man according to his deeds". So we can infer that God will render or judge each man according to his deeds. I would venture to say this even has the idea of weighing "intentions" in such a way that provides a full examination.
Application - As much as we would like to think that what we think is always the right thing in God's eyes, it's not. Humility is key, try to keep short accounts in your interactions with others and seek forgiveness swiftly if you believe God would find wrong in what you did. Really seek Him out on those things, don't assume. In our own lives resist justifying things we see as good in our own eyes but that we know are not of God. Every time I hear "trust your gut" or "follow your heart" my gut actually starts hurting. That probably sounds bad, but both are worldly concepts that don't respect the fact that God is the one doing the weighing of hearts.
Question - Are you quick to run to meaningful repentance? Are you slow to trust your own thoughts on the matter?
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