God weighs our intentions and Inclinations

I Samuel 16:7
For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

      When Jesus walked the earth, a lot of people followed HIM wherever HE went. But as days went by, there were only twelve people - most of whom were fishermen and tax collectors - who were still following Christ everywhere He went. Disciples are special followers who would follow their Master no matter what price they have to pay, or what sacrifices they have to make. Others who followed Jesus, did so for some need; some for food, some for healing and restoration, and many to find faults! GOD'S judgment and human judgment of people is contradictory to each other - sinners, tax collectors and illiterate fishermen were chosen by GOD as disciples; Gentiles and Canaanites were praised by Jesus as they had more faith than the Israelites; Pharisees, Sadducees and religious people were often Jesus' enemy! It is not the outward life that matters to God, but it is only the intentions and inclinations of the human heart that God looks at!

  Jesus was often found with the sinners and tax collectors. Matthew 9:10, 11 - Now it happened, as Jesus sat at the table in the house, that behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and sat down with Him and His disciples. And when the Pharisees saw it, they said to His disciples, “Why does your Teacher eat with tax collectors and sinners?” All that mattered to the Pharisees was the outward cleanliness, outward purity and religious activities on the outside, which portrayed them as saints! Matthew 23 gives an account of the true colors of the Pharisees! How they valued gold kept in the temple more than the sanctifying temple, and the gift on the altar more than the altar; how they loved to get the best seats at the feasts and how they loved to be called "Rabbi"! This clearly shows that their hearts were fully into greed, selfishness and pride! And that's why Jesus says in verses 27, 28 of the same chapter, 27: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. 28: Even so you also outwardly appear righteous to men, but inside you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness.

         In the story of the Prodigal son, we see that the elder brother was perfect outwardly, only with his lips he did not ask for his portion of wealth. But his angry reaction, when the Father set up a party for the Prodigal son who returned, clearly proves that his heart was in the Father's wealth! He was so angry with his own dad that he refused to enter the house! But the Prodigal son, whose outward life was not worthy of worldly credit, realized that he was a sinner and he could also sense and receive the Father's love. The elder son had not much regard to the Father or His love, and like the Pharisees, he hid these hard feelings in his heart and outwardly pretended to be good to his Father! The heart of the prodigal son who returns to the house and receives the Father’s love is way better than the obedient son who finally rebels to even enter the house!

  I believe, there are three main categories of Christians:

• The Disciples (The ones with whom God is well pleased)- who follow Christ not for their needs but for the love of God, who may not be outwardly righteous for the world's eyes before God chose them, who are ready to sacrifice anything to prove their love for God.
• The followers (Often multitudes! – The ones who God likes and whose activities God can bear) - who follow Christ for their needs, who want food, health, restoration and wealth only, not ready to sacrifice much for God. (John 6:2 Then a great multitude followed Him, because they saw His signs which He performed on those who were diseased)
• The Hypocritical Pharisees (The ones who God hates!) - religious leaders and other hypocritical people who portray themselves as saints in front of men but all they value is their priest garment, their status of "rabbi", their honorable seats at the feasts, the gifts and gold brought to the temple by the people - and a point we are to be aware of, is that, the Pharisees were GOD'S enemies! (Matthew 23: 25,26 - 25: Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you cleanse the outside of the cup and dish, but inside they are full of extortion and self-indulgence. 26: Blind Pharisee, first cleanse the inside of the cup and dish, that the outside of them may be clean also).

It is up to us to decide which category we would like to be in. Let our hearts be free of hypocrisy and our intentions be clean. My dad used to say, "Man sees what you do, but God sees Why you do it". God weighs our intentions and is pleased if the intentions are pure, and He can at least bear us if they are not hypocritical, but He can never tolerate the Pharisees, whose hearts are so corrupt but the outside is portrayed saintly! It is therefore important that we, with the help of the Holy Spirit, weigh the real intentions of our activities (Even religious activities like giving offering could be done to Please men and for pride) and if it is found to be impure, to be influenced by our selfishness, greed or pride, let us humble ourselves before God and just like the Prodigal son, God would wrap us in HIS arms and cleanse our hearts! Amen.