God Knows

Luke 16:14-17

God knows us very well. He knows not only what we are doing at all times, but why we do the things we do. Jesus' sermon on the mount in Matthew 5-7 addresses the very issue of the human heart as it is so innately corrupted to even taint the so called "good" things we do in life, People, like the Pharisees, might appear on the outside to be doing the right thing, but even the right thing can be wrong if it is done for the wrong reasons. The vice versa can be considered as well, as at times, we may be in situations where we must do a "wrong" thing for the right reason. For example, Jesus healed on the Sabbath which is considered work and against the Law. But the greater and higher ethic is that the healing is done for the glory of God. Why? Because the Law exists not to teach a robotic form of living in adherence to a code, but learning to live with the right intentions in mind. The legalism of the Pharisees limited their ability and understanding to exercise grace when it is needed, and they prioritized strict obedience to a code, above honouring God in the best manner. They may have corrected their actions, but their heart remained incorrect. Jesus teaches in this Luke passage that God knows our hearts. We may be able to, at times, fool men but we certainly cannot fool God. So the lesson is to be alert of the temptation of sin and the things that our sinfulness can cause us to do. We cannot serve two masters so we must be careful in assessing our own selves. Just as sin causes corruption of our state, the gospel and God's work in us causes the restoration of that state as well.