Will You Let Your Heart Be Judged by the Word of God?

The word judge has fallen on hard times as the universe falls all over itself to be seen as broad-minded, tolerant, and accepting. Many years ago, I had an encounter at my dining room table that has formed my thinking on judges and the practice of judgment…

We had just moved into the area, bought a house, welcomed our first baby, and settled into a new church.  The house was definitely a fixer-upper, but we were determined to start practicing hospitality, so we had a steady stream of company, including a dear lady who sat next to me in the alto section of the choir. 

She and her husband came for dinner one August evening. I remember the timing because I had made a blueberry pie for dessert, and we spent some time talking about the local blueberry festival as I cut into the pie and noted that it was… okay, but not great. My blueberry pies are always a little too juicy for my liking, but… oh, well.

I remember many details about that dinner and dessert, but here’s what I don’t remember:  I don’t remember when or how I learned that my new friend happened to be one of the judges for the Festival’s blueberry pie baking contest.  She certainly didn’t tip her hand at the dinner table that evening, and I was certainly thankful that I hadn’t known that particular detail as I served that sorry-looking pie.

The blueberry pie judge was gracious. She knew pies inside and out, but didn’t feel the need to call out my amateurish efforts.

Sadly, when we hear the word judge, our minds tend to go immediately to the negative: 
It was too juicy. 
Was the crust flaky enough? 
Were the berries too sweet?

Judging the Word or Judged BY the Word?

Hebrews 4:12 brings to mind the ability of God’s Word to judge, to discern, and to expose my inner heart.  Diving immediately into the negative stance, I picture it slicing through all my mixed motives, all my flabby excuses, and finding nothing but badness at the root, but there’s more to it than that:

For the word of God is living and active and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart. (NASB)

According to the prophet Jeremiah, we all could use a little help in the matter of judging our own hearts’ motives. Looking at the placement of Hebrews 4:12 within the author’s arguments for entering into God’s rest, it becomes clear that the Word of God can play an essential role in protecting the reader from the same fate as the nation of Israel.

Hebrews 3:19 reveals that the disobedience that kept the people of Israel out of the Promised Land was unbelief, specifically, disbelieving the Word of promise, mercy, forgiveness and welcome which they had received from God, (Hebrews 4:2).   Hungry for cucumber salad with a side of leeks, they bemoaned the presence of tall-guys in Canaan. Their sin of unbelief was passed down through the centuries, resulting in the New-Testament-era camel-swallowing and speck-picking that Jesus condemned. 

Warren Wiersbe diagnoses their misstep with his usual clarity:

“The Israelites criticized the Word of God instead of allowing the Word of God to judge them — and they lost their inheritance.”

Therefore, the message of the Holy Spirit through the writer of Hebrews is this:

Beware lest this happen to you!
Take the Word of God to heart!
Hold yourself before the Truth and be diligent in your knowing, in your trusting, and in your believing.
God’s Word is “living and powerful.”
It is “sharp  and piercing.”
It will turn a spotlight on motives that you would rather keep private.
It will expose attitudes that do not support your public persona.

But this is only one aspect of the Word’s working.

As we soak mind and heart in the truth of Scripture, as we read its promises (God’s promises), we find evidence that supports firm belief in those promises.  The more soaking, the more belief, so that when the two-edged sword does its work, what it finds is:

A trustful leaning into the promises of God like oxygen.
An awareness of sin’s deceitfulness and a soldierly accountability for the “thoughts and intents” of one’s heart.

So the warning stands:  fear unbelief!
But the promises also stand.

Let the Word of God lead your heart toward the evidence of God’s power and blessing.

When the two-edged sword does its work, may it find a trustful leaning into the promises of God like oxygen. Let the Word of God lead your heart toward the evidence of God’s power and blessing.

Tweet

Holding You in the Light,

---

A New YouVersion Devotional!

I’ve got a new devotional plan ready for you on the YouVersion app. Click HERE to start The Meaning and the Method of True Rest, a ten-day plan that I pray will encourage and challenge you to seek intimacy with God every day.

I participate in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees. If you should decide to purchase any of the books or products I’ve shared, simply click on the book title, and you’ll be taken directly to the seller. If you decide to buy, I’ll receive a few pennies at no extra cost to you.

Photo by Ricardo Cruz on Unsplash