This is a picture of the Helix Nebula and was taken by the Hubble Space Telescope in deep space. It has been affectionately referred to as “The Eye of God.” I thought it provided some wonderful imagery for the subject of today’s post.
Second Chronicles 16:9 reads, “The eyes of the Lord wander to and fro over the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward him.”
That word translated ‘perfect’ is the Hebrew word, Shalem, which means complete, friendly, and peaceable.
Think of the implications of that. If we have made peace with God, if we are living on good terms with Him by having our hearts wholly and completely devoted to Him, then we are a delight in His eyes. Not that we are perfect in the sense that we are absolutely without sin, but that we have hearts that are hungry for God. Second Chronicles says that He is searching for people like that. Why? The verse clearly says why. Because He wants to show Himself strong on their behalf.
Wow! Doesn’t that make you want to be perfect toward God? There is no better person to have in your corner than the Almighty.
Now, let’s consider the opposite implication. If our hearts are not completely devoted to the things of God, then as His eyes are wandering to and fro throughout the whole earth looking for someone to bless, He may have to pass some of us by. So when trouble comes our way, we may have to try and work it out on our own feeble wisdom rather than having God showing Himself strong on our behalf.
All through scripture is it clearly taught that much of God’s help is contingent upon our faithfulness to Him. Scripture says that He shows Himself faithful to those who are faithful (read Psalm 18:19-27). Psalm 37:18,19 says, “The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.” (NIV)
So what does it mean to be “faithful” and “blameless” then?
For starters, it means that EVERYTHING in your life revolves around God and His will. God is not a PART of your life that you pull out on Sundays or at night time prayers. God is the very center piece of your life. You live, breathe, work, eat, and sleep God. Your own desires and agenda bow to His desires and agenda for you. You take up your cross daily and follow Him, even if that means sacrifice. You love His Word; you love fellowship with His people; you love talking about the things of God; you love serving others; you love worship and prayer; your life is devoted to helping others experience His truth, whether that means some degree of Bible teaching for God’s people or evangelism of those who don’t know the Lord. You hate sin and love righteousness. You develop a love for the things He loves, and you develop a hatred for the things He hates. You are constantly growing in godly character. There is a clear and unmistakable distinction between yourself and those who don’t follow the way of the Lord.
When I was a kid, I used to love to play backyard sports with the neighborhood kids. I remember one day playing touch football with my older brother and a bunch of the older kids of the neighborhood. I remember running down the field with the ball and being chased down by a big teenager, and he tagged me so hard that it sent me sprawling on my face. Immediately my older brother, Gary, who was a little older than the teenager who made me eat dirt, became incensed at the older boy’s rough handling of me, and he sprang to defend me. He was quick to touch noses with the other boy and let him know he better be more careful the next time, or he was going to be handled rough as well. The fire in my brother’s eyes made the other guy back down and apologize.
Here's me and my childhood hero, big brother Gary. As you can see, I outgrew him so I get to protect him now!
That’s sort of like how God comes to the defense of those whose hearts are perfect toward Him, because He considers us His little children. In fact, Jesus said that it is inevitable that temptation comes, but woe to the person through whom those temptations come. It would be better for that tempter to have a large millstone hung around his neck and drowned into the sea than to experience the consequences of harming one of God’s “little ones.” (See Matthew 18:6-7)
To me, that means if your heart is perfect toward God and a person does you harm and brings temptation into your life, then that person had better be prepared to either repent and make amends to you and God or else be prepared to experience some very bitter fruit at some point, because it’s not going to be pretty. That is, as long as we don’t take matters into our own hands and try to set the matter right ourselves. That’s an entire teaching in itself that I don’t have space for here, but suffice it to say that we are to follow the example of Christ and leave all such matters in the hands of God who always judges justly.
Another way that God has His eye upon us is simply the fact that He watches our every move and knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows when we lie down, when we get up, when we eat, and when we play. He knows if you like puppies, or if you prefer kitties. He knows if you gag on spinach or if you love broccoli. He knows how many hairs are on your head. He knows if you have bad breath! He’ll see the mole on the back of your neck before you even know it’s there. He can see us from every angle, and yet He still loves us!! He even sees into the dark recesses of your insides! He was there when you were being formed in your mother’s womb. He knows your joy and is acquainted with your sorrow. (Read Psalm 139)
God is awesome, and He loves you and me so much. And even though He is so vast that He created the endless expanses of space, He stoops down to concern Himself with you and me. All He’s looking for is a little cooperation from people who are passionate enough about Him to search after Him like two young lovers search after being with one another. There is no limit to what God wants to do for those who love Him like that.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be a person who has a heart that is complete toward God.
“Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.” -Jeremiah 29:12-13
Second Chronicles 16:9 reads, “The eyes of the Lord wander to and fro over the whole earth to show Himself strong in behalf of those whose hearts are perfect toward him.”
That word translated ‘perfect’ is the Hebrew word, Shalem, which means complete, friendly, and peaceable.
Think of the implications of that. If we have made peace with God, if we are living on good terms with Him by having our hearts wholly and completely devoted to Him, then we are a delight in His eyes. Not that we are perfect in the sense that we are absolutely without sin, but that we have hearts that are hungry for God. Second Chronicles says that He is searching for people like that. Why? The verse clearly says why. Because He wants to show Himself strong on their behalf.
Wow! Doesn’t that make you want to be perfect toward God? There is no better person to have in your corner than the Almighty.
Now, let’s consider the opposite implication. If our hearts are not completely devoted to the things of God, then as His eyes are wandering to and fro throughout the whole earth looking for someone to bless, He may have to pass some of us by. So when trouble comes our way, we may have to try and work it out on our own feeble wisdom rather than having God showing Himself strong on our behalf.
All through scripture is it clearly taught that much of God’s help is contingent upon our faithfulness to Him. Scripture says that He shows Himself faithful to those who are faithful (read Psalm 18:19-27). Psalm 37:18,19 says, “The days of the blameless are known to the Lord, and their inheritance will endure forever. In times of disaster they will not wither; in days of famine they will enjoy plenty.” (NIV)
So what does it mean to be “faithful” and “blameless” then?
For starters, it means that EVERYTHING in your life revolves around God and His will. God is not a PART of your life that you pull out on Sundays or at night time prayers. God is the very center piece of your life. You live, breathe, work, eat, and sleep God. Your own desires and agenda bow to His desires and agenda for you. You take up your cross daily and follow Him, even if that means sacrifice. You love His Word; you love fellowship with His people; you love talking about the things of God; you love serving others; you love worship and prayer; your life is devoted to helping others experience His truth, whether that means some degree of Bible teaching for God’s people or evangelism of those who don’t know the Lord. You hate sin and love righteousness. You develop a love for the things He loves, and you develop a hatred for the things He hates. You are constantly growing in godly character. There is a clear and unmistakable distinction between yourself and those who don’t follow the way of the Lord.
When I was a kid, I used to love to play backyard sports with the neighborhood kids. I remember one day playing touch football with my older brother and a bunch of the older kids of the neighborhood. I remember running down the field with the ball and being chased down by a big teenager, and he tagged me so hard that it sent me sprawling on my face. Immediately my older brother, Gary, who was a little older than the teenager who made me eat dirt, became incensed at the older boy’s rough handling of me, and he sprang to defend me. He was quick to touch noses with the other boy and let him know he better be more careful the next time, or he was going to be handled rough as well. The fire in my brother’s eyes made the other guy back down and apologize.
Here's me and my childhood hero, big brother Gary. As you can see, I outgrew him so I get to protect him now! That’s sort of like how God comes to the defense of those whose hearts are perfect toward Him, because He considers us His little children. In fact, Jesus said that it is inevitable that temptation comes, but woe to the person through whom those temptations come. It would be better for that tempter to have a large millstone hung around his neck and drowned into the sea than to experience the consequences of harming one of God’s “little ones.” (See Matthew 18:6-7)
To me, that means if your heart is perfect toward God and a person does you harm and brings temptation into your life, then that person had better be prepared to either repent and make amends to you and God or else be prepared to experience some very bitter fruit at some point, because it’s not going to be pretty. That is, as long as we don’t take matters into our own hands and try to set the matter right ourselves. That’s an entire teaching in itself that I don’t have space for here, but suffice it to say that we are to follow the example of Christ and leave all such matters in the hands of God who always judges justly.
Another way that God has His eye upon us is simply the fact that He watches our every move and knows us better than we know ourselves. He knows when we lie down, when we get up, when we eat, and when we play. He knows if you like puppies, or if you prefer kitties. He knows if you gag on spinach or if you love broccoli. He knows how many hairs are on your head. He knows if you have bad breath! He’ll see the mole on the back of your neck before you even know it’s there. He can see us from every angle, and yet He still loves us!! He even sees into the dark recesses of your insides! He was there when you were being formed in your mother’s womb. He knows your joy and is acquainted with your sorrow. (Read Psalm 139)
God is awesome, and He loves you and me so much. And even though He is so vast that He created the endless expanses of space, He stoops down to concern Himself with you and me. All He’s looking for is a little cooperation from people who are passionate enough about Him to search after Him like two young lovers search after being with one another. There is no limit to what God wants to do for those who love Him like that.
I don’t know about you, but I want to be a person who has a heart that is complete toward God.
“Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. You will seek Me and find Me, when you seek Me with all your heart.” -Jeremiah 29:12-13
2 comments:
At the risk of you putting it back on there and all of us having to wait 3 minutes, listening to it, to leave a message, I sometime miss you quoting that scripture on your family answering machine.
:-) Hope you guys are having a blessed weekend.
wow!! even though as Christians we should "know" this stuff, it was very good to hear that and I appreciate the time you spent putting this on your blog. Thank you!
God Bless the lovely R family!
Laurie
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