For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.
2 CHRONICLES 16:9
Come with me up on the mountain! Look out over the landscape. What do you see? Ridge after ridge of tree-covered land? Perhaps a city in the distance? Maybe boats on a nearby lake or hikers coming up the trail? Whatever sights we may scan from the peak, they are not likely to include a detailed look at people far away. Even with powerful binoculars, we cannot get a close look.
How different that is from the way God sees us! He not only perceives us clearly, He can see so much more than what’s on the outside. In 1 Samuel 16, God sent Samuel to Jesse’s house to anoint one of his sons as king over Israel. Samuel thought the first son looked like a good candidate, but God told him, “The LORD does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart” (v. 7). It turned out that God wanted the youngest brother, David, to be the next king of Israel. He was a man after God’s own heart (Acts 13:22). No wonder he was the man God had in mind! David later wrote in Psalm 139, “Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (vv. 23–24). David surely knew that God did not need an invitation to know his heart and his thoughts, and yet he welcomed God’s scrutiny and guidance.
What about us? How are our hearts? Are they open to the God who loves us? Or have we allowed the difficulties of life to harden our hearts? In Ezekiel 36:26, God told the Israelites, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” Now that is a beautiful promise. Surely He can renew our hearts as well!