We people are very much into surface things – things we can touch and feel. Someone dresses well or performs well or looks good – and we judge them to be successful. But God's interested in something else. Something quite different. God's interested in our hearts. I don't know if you've ever watched the Oscars on TV. You know, the movie awards they give in Hollywood, in "Tinsel Town" each year. Look I think it's great that they award the best movies and actors and directors. But sometimes, as I see people prancing down that red carpet and accepting their glory when they get their awards. Well, I can't but help have this sense that it feels just a tad superficial. It's about being beautiful. It's about being the best. It's about winning. And that my friend is pretty much what our world's like. If you're rich or beautiful or entertaining, we value you. But if you're not, we don't. We tend very much to judge the book by its cover. Now, it's not always true. Sometimes we form closer deeper relationships but in a world where there are so many options to consume and to be entertained, hey, you have to choose somehow. And we tend to choose a book by its cover. We tend to value outward symbols of beauty and success. And that's good because that's what makes the economy grow. That's what gets us to buy things. That's what gives people jobs. So it's a good thing, isn't it? Well, we know it's not but it's just the way the world is. This, of course, is nothing new. It's been around for a long time. The apostle Paul, a couple of thousand years ago, wrote about people who boast in outward appearance but not in the heart. You can read that if you like in 2 Corinthians chapter 5, verse 12 in the New Testament. And another thousand or so years before that, God had this to say through the prophet Samuel when he was looking for a new king for Israel. God said: Man looks on the outward appearance but the Lord looks on the heart. (1 Samuel 16:7). I was watching a show on TV the other day; it was out of the UK. About a woman who goes in to show shops how to turn their business around. So she goes into this struggling little boutique and she's helping this little boutique in Doncaster in the UK and she decided that their target market was, listen for this, the disciples of Beckham. People who wanted to be like and look like Victoria and David Beckham. Now sure, they're celebrities and there's nothing wrong with that. But this whole idea in turning this boutique around was to stock and promote clothes and the look that celebrities were sporting. To be seen to mimic the celebs. Do you see what's going on here? I don't knock the business. They're doing stuff to get money. But what they're chasing after is our desire to be all about appearances. But outer appearances aren't actually that important to God. See He's much more concerned with our hearts and to tell you the truth, when I started doing a bit of research in the Bible I was actually quite shocked with how much God has to say about our hearts. And how concerned He is for our hearts. Have a listen to 1 Chronicles chapter 28, verse 9. Listen to this: The Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts. Listen to that again. He searches every heart. See we race around doing things. Thinking things. Imagining no one notices. Imagining that people can only see us on the outside and they don't know the rotten things going on, on the inside. We can be angry, revengeful, deceitful, dishonest in our hearts. But we stick a smile on our face and have soft word on our lips and we think we're kidding everyone. We may well be. But we're not kidding God because He searches every heart and understands every motive behind our thoughts. And God tests our hearts too. Have a listen to these few verses. The first one comes from Deuteronomy chapter 8, verse 2. It says: Remember how the Lord your God lead you all the way in the desert these forty years, to humble you and to test you in order to know what is in your heart. Whether or not you would keep His Commandments. And this one, it's a little bit longer. 2 Chronicles, chapter 32, verses 27 to 31. Have a listen, it's about a king called Hezekiah: Hezekiah had very great riches and honour and he made treasuries for his silver and gold and for his precious stones and spices and shields, all kinds of valuables. He also made buildings to store the harvest of the grain, new wine, oil and he made stalls for various kinds of cattle and pens for the flocks. He built villages and acquired great numbers of flocks and herds for God had given him very great riches. It was Hezekiah who blocked the upper outlet of the Gihon spring and channelled the water down the west side of the City of David. He succeeded in everything that he undertook. But when the envoys were sent by the rulers of Babylon to ask him about the miraculous signs that had occurred in the land, God left him to test him to know everything that was in his heart. See this king, he's rich, he's powerful, he's successful and it's all happened through God's blessing, under God's hand. Because the king turned away from his pride and so God blessed him. Everything he touched turned to gold. But then, with the ominous threatening envoy's were sent by the rulers of Babylon and they showed up to check out all his successes, what did God do? Did God perform more miracles and wonders? Did God show up with some flashy display of power? No. God left him to test him and to know everything that was in his heart. God searches, tests and probes our hearts. Now probe is a very strong word. It's an invasive word. I had to go to the doctor recently and he put a telescope in through my right nostril and it went down the back of my throat to look at my voice box. That's probing. It was very uncomfortable, very unpleasant, very invasive and I couldn't wait for him to stop doing it. Psalm 17, verse 3 says that God probes our hearts and examines us. Jeremiah chapter 20, verse 12 says that God examines the righteous and probes the heart and mind. Now this is pretty 'in your face' kind of stuff and there's a reason for that. Because God is so concerned about our hearts. The heart is the wellspring of life. If we have a diseased heart, our life is going to be diseased. And God aches for us to have a healthy heart. God looks at the inner person. The inner man. The inner woman. Because He wants to heal us. He wants to set things right in our hearts. Listen to me my friend. We go through life setting our hearts on all sorts of things. We go through life with our hearts torn and divided. We want to serve God. We want to love Him. But there's attractive, beautiful, external things that everyone else can see. They beckon us and that means our hearts are torn. Did you know that when our hearts desire wealth or fame or recognition, they become diseased with envy and pride? Have a listen to what Solomon writes, a great piece of wisdom from God, in Proverbs chapter 14, verse 30: A heart of peace gives life to the body but envy rots the bones. See God wants you and me to have peace. That's why He's concerned about our hearts because God has a plan to heal our hearts. Yours and mine. When we seek after God with all our heart. When our heart if full of His peace and His joy. Then we don't lose heart. Then we see Him just as He is. God wants the very, very best for you and me and He reserves the very best for those with a pure heart. That's why Jesus said: Blessed are the pure of heart for they shall see God.

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