Proverbs 21:2

Sons;

This verse is an important one, as we consider our lives and the things we choose to do (or not do): Proverbs 21:2 - "Every man's way is right in his own eyes, but the Lord weighs the hearts."  Solomon is someone who can very much attest to this idea; even being the wisest person ever, he still managed to let himself do all sorts of things he shouldn't (i.e., marrying 300 wives and 700 concubines).   We often do the same thing - as humans, we can convince ourselves of anything, that anything we decide to do is okay.  We justify; we rationalize; we make excuses.  We are lying to ourselves, and then willingly believing that lie.  And of course, as we know, if a lie is repeated often enough, even the teller begins to believe it's true.

God, however, can't be fooled, which is Solomon's point.  He sees through all the justifications and rationalizations as if they weren't there, seeing straight into our hearts (our emotionally-based motives).  He knows when we are doing something that is truly righteous, or something that isn't.  And His judgement on these things is the only judgement that truly matters.

But of what value is that to us?  If we lie to ourselves, and God sees through that, how does that help us?  Because of the power of the Holy Spirit, who convicts us when we do wrong.  God will discipline us when we do wrong (just like a good parent should), but I believe He gives us a warning, the Holy Spirit telling us in our mind, "This isn't right, I shouldn't do this."  And the more we listen to the Holy Spirit, the easier it will be to pick out His voice, and finally grow to the point that we are wise enough to see without prompting when we're about to make a mistake

There is one other thing to warn you about, and I do this most strongly.  It is very easy to become numb to the Holy Spirit - to ignore His prompting and convicting to the point that, as we do habitual sins, we don't even hear the Spirit's voice anymore.  We have put on spiritual earphones, and can't hear the truth.  Make a habit of evaluating your life and actions, to see if there is a place you have become deaf, and be very honest with yourself (you might as well, God isn't going to be fooled anyway).  The Holy Spirit will help you do this, and so you can know where you need to be making better choices and decisions.  This is something we all need to work on, myself included.  If we can do this, however, tell ourselves the truth as God sees it, then we'll save ourselves a lot of trouble!

Love,

Dad