Proverb 17:3

"The crucible for silver and the furance for gold; but the Lord tests the heart."

In the 60's when I was at that wonderful stage call adolesence, I heard my father say something about a young man walking down the street. He spoke with great disapproval of the way he looked: " long hair,clown pants and wild shirt" Needless to say, my siblings and I thought he was "cool".

My father really was judging the young man's life by his dress. My grandmother (his mother) cleared her throat and quitely asked my father: "Are you God, can you see his heart?" My father became quite.

My grandmother in gentle soothing tones told my father that only God can see the hearts of men. She reminded him that just as the crucible and the furance separate dross from the pure so does the Spirit of God to the hearts of men. She reminded him that the vessel that carries our spirit is subjected to the ways and harshness of the world in which we live; but that part of us that only God can see is what is true and pure. Only God can pass judgement on the hearts of men.

I think of this conversation often and pray that my own heart is pure and that my motives are acceptable not to man; but to God. I pray that when others see me that they will not judge me for the way I look; but for the way that I love God and His word as well as how I have loved them as my fellow traveller on this journey.