Motives and Attitudes of the Heart

God is omniscient, which means He is all-knowing. He cannot be taken by surprise, and neither can He be deceived. He knows what sin is but, thankfully, cannot be affected by it.

His word is so accurate. It has the ability to dissect and examine the motives and attitudes of the human heart, at all times, in all situations.

In the book of Jonah, the prophet was given a mission by God to go to Nineveh taking with him a word from the Lord. But Jonah ran, as he thought, from the presence of God and from the mission, because he didn’t like the people, and even worse than that, he didn’t want them to be saved. He clearly didn’t appreciate the value of a human soul, but God did!

“Should not I spare Nineveh, that great city where there are more than one hundred and twenty thousand persons that cannot discern between their right hand and their left hand?”  (Jonah 4:16). The lives of many souls were at stake and God is not willing that any should perish, but that all should come to repentance. Eventually, after battling with God, Jonah acquiesced, and the whole city was saved to the glory of God. Obedience to God’s word always brings life.

God is also protective of His word, and watches over it at all times to perform it. In the early Church days, when the apostles were laying hands on people to receive the Holy Ghost, Simon the sorcerer was anxious to ‘buy’ this new power to do miracles and look important in front of the people. Immediately, Peter sharply rebuked him for thinking that God’s gift could be bought with money and urged him to repent (Acts 8:20-22). The motive of Simon’s heart was laid bare for all to see, and only the remedy of repentance and the mercy of God could save him.

God will not allow His word or His mission to be derailed either through man’s reluctance or enemy interference through enemy agents. Eternity is forever, and as God has so mercifully gone to the great lengths of giving His only Son, Jesus, for the life of the world, nothing and no-one will be able to sabotage God’s intent or intentions for mankind. God’s will will be done!

So whatever God has called you to, or laid on your heart today, know that your thoughts and aspirations are laid bare before Him. Indeed, He knows our thoughts before we think them.  The one thing we can be sure of is that He’s always right.

May God help us that in all we do and say. So that, in agreement with His word, we will pay attention to the motives and attitudes of our hearts and be obedient, so that God will be glorified.