As I start this blog, I would like to tell a story.
There is this weekly gathering in a Church. Everyone is well dressed up until one day; a boy came in to join. He was a young teenager who wore untidy and shaggy clothes. His shirt and jeans were obviously worn out and his slippers were muddy. All eyes were on this boy and believe me, they were looking at him as if he were a criminal or a threat to their safety. When the boy sat in one of the benches at the rightmost corner, many of the people originally sitting there moved to other places. The boy didn’t mind. The mass started and ended just the way it is and before the priest took his exit, he said, “Next week, I want you to read in advance Romans 17:1” The people nodded and then went to their respective homes, including the boy.
When the next meeting came, all the people were there including the boy who still wore the same way he did and sat where he sat last time.
Then the priest asked,
“Who among you have read what I’ve asked you to read?”
Everybody raised their hands except for the boy. All eyes were at him again and the people were looking at the boy as if he had committed murder. The crowd began to whisper and talked about the boy’s behavior. The murmur was getting louder and louder until the priest ordered silence.
The priest then asked, “Why didn’t you read Romans 17:1?”
The boy nervously answered, “Good day sir. Honestly, I tried to look for that chapter and verse in the bible but I didn’t so I wasn’t able to read.”
The priest smiled at the boy and looked at the people,
“This boy is telling the truth, there is no Romans 17:1”
“The Lord does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
1 Samuel 16:7
This is what makes God a God. God is not a God if He was just looking at the same way the man looks at other people. There maybe some moments in our lives where we tend to judge a person by how he looks or how he stands, how he dresses up or how he speaks; but you know what? We can never tell what’s in a person’s heart. Are we God for us to tell that the person is not living for God? Physical appearance is not important to God, what’s most important to Him is our hearts. It’s not proper to ask “What’s in you heart?” because honestly, it is not a “What” but a “Who is in your heart?” When you see people happy, it’s not actually a “what” that’s in their hearts. The reason why you see believers so happy is because CHRIST is in them. Do you have Christ in your heart? God is not concerned about our riches or fame or whatsoever, he is more concerned about the contents of our hearts. Is your heart filled with anger? Do you find money in it?, Relationships perhaps?, Riches or Fame?, or is your heart filled with so much love for Christ? In prayer, we cannot say that person who says a longer prayer is praying better than the one who prays a short one. In fact, this is not a length-of-prayer contest. Before, when I wasn’t saved and I haven’t accepted Jesus as my Lord, I didn’t actually want to pray. I’ve always thought someone else was better at it and I was not used to do it. I always pushed someone to lead us in prayer, most of the times I refused. But I want you to know that there is no right or wrong prayer; only sincere and insincere ones. A prayer is a conversation with God. You can actually tell God just about anything under the sun. Prayer is one way of worshipping God and God is well pleased with those who worship and honor him whole heartedly. In singing Christian songs, you can’t actually tell that a person who raises his hands and closes his eyes is better than the worshipper who just stands at the corner. We don’t know what is in a person’s heart, but God does. He knows what we feel, what we desire, what we know, what we want, he knows just about everything about us. The heart is the core of being human and the soul is the core of our being. In the heart, we feel pain, happiness, grief, satisfaction, joy, loneliness, and the list goes on. This is why the heart is stated a lot of times in the bibles because God values the content of our hearts. Be careful of what you feel. Before you acknowledge the feeling, ask God first if He will be pleased if you will feel that way. For instance, someone has sinned against you. Asked God first if being angry at the person would glorify Him; ask God first if feeling anger will please Him. If you are truly in love with God, then you would try your very best to please Him in every way possible. Let God take over your lives. Let Him be the master of your emotions, relationships, decisions, time and finances. God is the all-knowing God as well as the “best-knowing” God. He always knows what is best for us and that’s why trusting in Him completely is never a wrong decision. It is perhaps the only decision you should make. Nothing else will work in this life.
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