"Who can say, I have made my heart clean, I am pure from my sin?
Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right."
Proverbs 20:9-11
First of all, an excellent question. One that I hope we are working to be able to answer for ourselves. Imagine how it will feel to be able to say that our hearts are clean, and we are free from sin. I can't imagine a more joyful feeling, or the amazing confidence we could have in talking to the Lord in that state--with nothing at all hindering that conversation. What could we not do? :)
The weights and measures part is about cheating people on one level... setting the scale just a touch off so that we get the full price for say a pound of something, but we give them just a little less than a pound, so that over time we can make more money. And perhaps this doesn't apply to us on one level because we don't sell things, or cheat people in this physical way... but on another level, how often do we hedge the truth just a little bit to look better, to avoid consequences, or to gain an advantage? How often do we manipulate things just slightly in our favor, so we can get our way?
I think here God is telling us, as he has elsewhere, that "the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). We don't often think that our "white" lies or our tiny manipulations matter, but we are his children, and even children are known by their doings. We need to learn to do good, to be pure and right--to make our hearts clean.
Today, let's stop the cheating and the lying, even the tiniest examples. Let's stop the manipulations and stop taking advantage of others' weaknesses. Let's stop trying to get ahead of others, and instead, help them on their way. As we do, we'll get closer and closer to the day where we can answer this question and finally be able to look up with pure hearts, completely free of the weight of our sins.
Divers weights, and divers measures, both of them are alike abomination to the Lord.
Even a child is known by his doings, whether his work be pure, and whether it be right."
Proverbs 20:9-11
First of all, an excellent question. One that I hope we are working to be able to answer for ourselves. Imagine how it will feel to be able to say that our hearts are clean, and we are free from sin. I can't imagine a more joyful feeling, or the amazing confidence we could have in talking to the Lord in that state--with nothing at all hindering that conversation. What could we not do? :)
The weights and measures part is about cheating people on one level... setting the scale just a touch off so that we get the full price for say a pound of something, but we give them just a little less than a pound, so that over time we can make more money. And perhaps this doesn't apply to us on one level because we don't sell things, or cheat people in this physical way... but on another level, how often do we hedge the truth just a little bit to look better, to avoid consequences, or to gain an advantage? How often do we manipulate things just slightly in our favor, so we can get our way?I think here God is telling us, as he has elsewhere, that "the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7). We don't often think that our "white" lies or our tiny manipulations matter, but we are his children, and even children are known by their doings. We need to learn to do good, to be pure and right--to make our hearts clean.
Today, let's stop the cheating and the lying, even the tiniest examples. Let's stop the manipulations and stop taking advantage of others' weaknesses. Let's stop trying to get ahead of others, and instead, help them on their way. As we do, we'll get closer and closer to the day where we can answer this question and finally be able to look up with pure hearts, completely free of the weight of our sins.
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