Righteous At Heart

Perhaps the worst part of going to the doctor is stepping onto the scales. Even though I methodically take off my coat, unhand my pocketbook, empty my pockets and set aside all unnecessary weight - still, there's no manipulating those numbers! Proverbs 21:2 says, "Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, But The LORD weighs the hearts." What folly we practice by doing-doing-doing all the right things instead of being-being-being righteous at heart. Jesus' scathing words to the Pharisees (religious leaders) have lost none of their sting for us today: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you are like whitewashed tombs which on the outside appear beautiful, but inside they are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness. So you, too, outwardly appear righteous to men, but inwardly you are full of hypocrisy and lawlessness." (Matthew 23:27-28, NASB). Over and over in Scripture, we read about the "hardness" of man's heart. Jim Elliot said, "it's hard to steer a parked car," and I fear too many Believers have "parked" their hearts, refusing to be shaped and molded by the hand of The Creator. God wants to "remove the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26, NASB) - give to us hearts tender to effective change and total obedience. You know, I'm thankful I only face those frightening scales a few times a year; weighing of my heart, however, is daily! God's scales are always perfect and just so let's make sure we know the spiritual weight of being ... righteous at heart.