Oh, My Heart
Scripture Reading: Luke 16:15
“And [Jesus] said to them, ‘You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is exalted among men is an abomination in the sight of God.’”
“God knows my heart.” People say that a lot. And Jesus agrees with them. It is a self-evident proposition. God being God, that is, He is omniscient (knowing everything and knowing it fully and perfectly), knows our hearts. What we mean is that God knows the motives, the reasons we said or did something. Nothing is hidden from His sight.
Though we are quoting Jesus when we say, “God knows my heart,” we aren’t saying the same thing Jesus said. We are using the same words, but they don’t have the same meaning. We mean, “My words and/or actions were not perfect, but my intentions were and God knows that.” Jesus, on the other hand, means, “You are justifying yourself and your actions, but God sees your heart and you stand condemned by what He sees there.”
It is true. God knows our hearts. It is not true that we do. At least not fully or accurately. Our innermost desires and motives are tainted by sin and we are masters at self-deception. God knowing our hearts is not something to take comfort in and certainly not a defense for our words and actions. But the gospel is. Christ’s sacrifice is the means of cleansing for a tainted heart.