Jeremiah 17:9-10

9 “The heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
10 I, the LORD, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.
Jeremiah 17:9-10

It is not particularly comforting to think that I will be rewarded according to the fruit of my doings. I see little good fruit. Perhaps some malformed apples or a squishy pear or maybe a mold covered orange. How does this text fit in with the concepts of righteousness in Christ, legalism, Christ covering me with His robe of righteousness, and gaining salvation through my works? My heart will deceive me, it is desperately wicked, who can understand it. We see this description of our hearts born out in humanity every day. We are often astounded at the things people do to other people. It is hard to grasp just how anyone could think it is OK to do some of the things that are being done around the world every day to our fellow humans. Even a lot of the things that I find myself doing can seem quite surprisingly confused and wrong when studied in my more rational moments. The heart in this passage represents feelings to me, and I cannot deny that my feelings have much more control over me than I know they should. While I know that Christ wants me to react kindly with others when they insult me, loving them, and treating them as I would want to be treated, the reality is my feelings too often lead me to react in a not so Christian way when I am insulted or treated in a way I consider unfair. Even when time has passes and I have cooled off and prayed for those who use me spitefully, I too often find that my feelings of self justification and reproach for the one I view as mistreating me continue to periodically take control of my thoughts and cause me to once again concentrate on me and the wrongs I felt. I could almost understand it if my brain processed things in the ‘right’ way once it got control, but it seems as though my feelings all too often wrests control from the intellect over and over. I can be thankful that verse ten gives the hope that God searches the heart and also tests the mind. He can understand better than even I can what my feelings are and what my mind tells me is right. He understands my will and my desire to serve Him, and He understands the weakness I have in controlling my feelings. God rewards me according to what is in my heart and in my mind. I may do (and I do) many wrong things. The reasons are varied. I am ignorant of what is right, I have an area where my character has not allowed God total control so He can give me the truth in that area, my feelings overwhelm me and I react wrongly. A baby Christian may not have learned enough today to do the right thing in a particular situation, while a future period of time walking with Jesus will allow them to grow enough that they will be able to see God’s truth and make the right decision. The fruit that we are expected to produce is the fruit that God can see as He searches our hearts and tests our minds. It is not necessarily the fruit that we see or the fruit that our neighbor sees. It is the fruit that God sees, taking into account what is in our hearts and in our minds. Our ways may appear to others and even to ourselves as being in the wrong directions, but God can see the totality of our ways and not just the last few steps that are somewhat wayward. This explains why I cannot judge you. I only see that you have taken a few steps in a direction that will lead to your destruction. I cannot see that in your heart you are following God as best you can. I cannot see that in your mind you have determined to search for God’s truth and follow it wherever He leads. I cannot see that tomorrow you will hear God’s voice and immediately turn back onto the path. I cannot see that a month ago you were heading towards a place that would lead to your destruction and you let God lead you back towards His path. You and I are both walking, and while we often stumble and take wrong turns, God is working to lead us correctly and He understands why we are where we are. As we grow in understanding of His truth and learn to hear His voice and as we learn to allow Him to lead us, our ways will become closer to the Way of Jesus.

Lord,
Help me today to listen and learn. Help me to not judge others harshly because of their perceived faults, but help me to encourage all and allow You who knows and understands them to judge them.