"God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." -1 Samuel 16:7
Often times when I am "spending time" with the Lord, I find myself in the midst of my own ritualistic behaviors. The question then arises as to whether I am spending time in God's Word in order to say that I completed my daily reading, or to truly build a relationship with Him. In such a busy society, it is practically instilled within the common man to rush at each and every task. Life is no longer about quality- it about getting things done. However, as Christians, if God is the most significant factor of our lives, then it only makes sense that time spent with Him should be nothing short of genuine. Much more, He deserves that. The world attempts to operate on religious standards, but Jesus' crucifixion made another reality possible for us: relationship. Relationship takes sacrifice and discipline, but once we build it, we can rest assured that every other area of our lives will be transformed as a consequence. If God shapes the entirety of who we are, then He should never be treated as a side dish- He is always the main entree. One can be sure that time with Him is never wasted- and when we put Him first, He will produce margin for us to complete everything else that He has willed for us to accomplish.
Not one thing in an individual's life goes unnoticed by the Father. He not only sees our outward state, but evaluates with even more significance our inner condition. After all, "God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart." -1 Samuel 16:7
Considering this, how immensely important is it that our intentions are pure for the sake of this relationship? If we make it a habit to glorify ourselves in the midst of our pursuit of the Lord, we will become increasingly wise in our own eyes and deplete ourselves of true godly wisdom. When we acknowledge our own interest before our Father's, we miss the point of what spending time with Him is all about: Getting to know Him and working for His Kingdom's sake. God loves a humble heart, and when we recognize that nothing good we do is of ourselves, we crave all the more for the Father to become more and us to become less. We realize that genuine time spent with the Lord is crucial for the benefit of both ourselves and those around us. It is not our duty to raise ourselves up, but God's alone. If we humble ourselves, God promises to exalt us in due season.
"Who am I truly doing this for- man or God?"
Genuine Behavior Translates
When we build the habit of being genuine with our Creator, this will translate into every other relationship in our lives. We will be slow to speak, and quick to listen. Rather than thinking about what we are going to say next, we will have ears to truly listen to our fellow brothers and sisters in Christ, loving them enough to respect what they have to say.
When we have an open heart to God's word, it will enable us to become the raw, unique, and original version of ourselves that we were created to be.
Are we doing it for the fleeting opinion of man or the eternal opinion of God? Where is our heart at?
"For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." -Matthew 6:21
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