Proverbs 20 - The Inner Being

Have you ever had surgery or had to go to the doctor/hospital and put on one of those gowns that does not have a back. The proverbial crack back! How embarrassing and how exposed do you feel? I will do anything to avoid wearing one of those stupid things. This is how we should all feel daily. Every part of our being is exposed to God. There is nothing we do, say, or think that can be hidden from God. Feeling exposed yet? Read on

21:4 The purposes of a man's heart are deep waters, but a man of understanding draws them out
For you and I to look at a person and understand their motivation is pure speculation. Their inner workings, their mind, their thoughts are unknown to us. Not to God. We not only need to be careful when making judgements about what we see people doing. Whether they are doing things we believe they should not, or whether we see them doing good. Don't get me wrong, doing good even for the wrong motives is doing good! It gets the job done and a lot of good work gets done with the wrong motives (i.e. tax breaks, mandated community service). We just need to make sure our heart is right when we are doing good. We all want that crown of glory when we get to heaven, and we run the race and train our bodies for the finish line. But we cannot forget that our heart must be in the right place or we only receive favor among men, not God.

21:17 Food gained by fraud tastes sweet to a man, but he ends up with a mouth full of gravel
I wonder what the food in federal prison tastes like to Jeffrey Skilling. Even if the food is the best on the earth, do you think it tastes good inside prison walls. We need to be diligent to ensure that we earn an honest living. It is very easy to get caught up in something that may seem right in the business world but we know in our hearts it is ethically wrong. Enron, WorldCom, Freddie Mae, Fannie Mac executives all knew they were wrong. It is not only wrong if you get caught!

21:27 The lamp of the LORD searches the spirit of a man; it searches out his inmost being.
Ditto to the above comments. I can't hide anything from God and that is scary. I thank God sooooooo much that He gave us Jesus. I try sometimes to imagine what Jesus must look like upon the cross with all that sin. If you have ever watched the Stephen King "The Stand", there is a scene as one of the good guys comes into Las Vegas from the north. Jesus is on the cross with hypodermic syringes, tattoos, mutilations, piercings, etc. all over His body. There are swastika labels, graffiti, slanderous sayings, etc. all around. And those are just the visible references to the sins we place upon Him. Can you imagine what the whole of the world's sins upon His soul must weigh? I wish I could live a sin free life. Even if I could I would still need Jesus. He is not only my Savior and my Hope, but He is my best friend. He is always there.