Richard Dawson, 26 August 2014

Never judge by appearances. There is, I am sure, another inner dynamic which shows how deceptive appearances can be and it concerns the state of our hearts. Jeremiah famously says in chapter 17 these words… “The heart is devious above all else; it is perverse—who can understand it?” This should give us great pause to think carefully about how we appear to ourselves inwardly for what Jeremiah indicates here is that not only can we not trust our eyes but we need also to question our motivations for they can appear to be much better than they are. Jesus knew this well and this is reflected in John where is says… “Now while he was in Jerusalem at the Passover Festival, many people saw the signs he was performing and believed in his name. But Jesus would not entrust himself to them, for he knew all people. He did not need human testimony about them, for he knew what was in them.” Here we have many people coming to believe in Jesus and yet His reaction is one of deep suspicion—why? Because He knew the human heart and He knew that an act of good precipitated by an evil motivation will end up like a house built on sand. Though the house be sound, a single decent storm will destroy all the good of that house. God is not interested in a good appearance apart from a redeemed heart. The miracle of a redeemed heart is the first and most basic miracle and all else in the Christian life flows from this. The heart is the soil upon which our faith is built and it needs constant monitoring if we are to keep the building secure.