Devotions
A Sincere Heart Before God
You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways. Before a word is on my tongue, you, Lord, know it completely. – Psalm 139: 2-4
A Childhood
Lesson in Honesty
When we were very
young, we loved staying up late with our parents, especially when there was no
school the next day. What we enjoyed most was what happened afterward: if we
fell asleep in the living room, our father would gently carry us to our rooms.
We treasured the feeling of being held in his arms.
One night, after we
had stayed up late, my father called me and told me to go to bed. Wanting him
to carry me, I pretended to be asleep. He called again, this time a little
annoyed: “I know you can hear me. Go to bed.” Still, I did not move.
Suddenly, I felt a
slap on my cheek. My father, now very upset, said, “If you want me to carry
you, ask me. I will do it any day because you are my child. But I will never
tolerate lies and deception from you, never.”
In my childish thinking, I did not understand that sleeping is not simply closing one’s eyes. There is a difference between someone who is truly asleep and someone who is pretending. My father saw through my deception.
God Sees What People Cannot
Ananias and Sapphira
also acted with deceptive hearts (Acts 5:1–11). They sold a piece of land, kept
back part of the money, and brought the rest to the apostles while pretending
it was the full amount. Peter confronted them because their lie was not merely
against people; it was against the Holy Spirit.
We cannot cheat God,
and we cannot deceive Him. We may lie to others, act with hidden agendas, or
even serve God with ulterior motives, but Scripture reminds us that He sees
everything. He knows when we sit and when we lie down. Before a word is on our
tongues, He already knows it completely.
We may think we are clever enough to hide our motives, but deception before God is never hidden. As Peter showed, such dishonesty is not simply lying to people; it is lying to the Holy Spirit.
The Danger of a Deceptive Heart
Why would anyone
think of cheating God when we know that He knows everything? He sees not only
our actions but also the motives behind them. He rewards what is sincere, not
what is performed for appearance.
The people we try to
impress through deception may praise us, approve of us, or admire what they
see. But what lasting value is there in human approval if our hearts are not
right before God? Their praise cannot help us before Him or prepare us for
eternal life.
God warns against
such foolishness: “While you did all this, I remained silent, and you
thought I didn’t care. But now I will rebuke you, listing all my charges
against you” (Psalm 50:21 NLT).
Like my father, who
would not tolerate deception, God will not overlook a dishonest heart forever.
He may remain silent for a time as we come before Him with impure motives, but
one day He will say, “Enough.” Judgment may fall as suddenly as a slap on the
cheek.
For this reason, the cry of every believer should be: “Create in me a pure heart” (Psalm 51:10). A pure and sincere heart before God, free from crooked ways and hypocrisy, draws His appreciation and approval.
Saul, David and the Heart God Honours
Saul was a man with
an insincere heart. He disobeyed God and then claimed he had done it for God.
Does that sound familiar? Some people steal, cheat, or betray others and then
say, “I was protecting the work of God,” or “I wanted money to advance the Kingdom.”
In our limited human
thinking, we may imagine that we can deceive God. But Saul lost his kingship
because, although he claimed to be offering the best to God, he lacked humility
and sincerity before Him.
David, by contrast, was still called a man after God’s heart, despite his flaws. He was humble and sincere before his Master. He acknowledged his mistakes, repented quickly, and, most importantly, honoured God above everything else.
Posted : Aug 10, 2026