Appearances Can Be Deceiving

I have been thinking on how deceiving appearances can be.. This is why we must be very careful not to make rash judgments. Often times we may find ourselves thinking one way of a person only to find out later how very wrong we had been in our judgment. I know I have been guilty of wrongly judging others- both ways. I have made the assumption that one was a sincere and dedicated Christian only to find out down the road that I had been very wrong, due to that one turning from the faith. I have also made a false judgment of one due to a misunderstanding, that this person couldn’t be a genuine believer, only to be (seemingly) proven wrong- again. Even though we cannot judge another’s heart, we can judge the fruit that we see. God alone knows the hearts of men, and He alone will judge those hearts aright, “It is the Lord who judges me. Therefore do not pronounce judgment before the time, before the Lord comes, who will bring to light the things now hidden in darkness and will disclose the purposes of the heart. Then each one will receive his commendation from God” (1 Corinthians 4:4-5).

One can appear to be living a faithful and dedicated Christian life, when that one’s heart may in actuality be far from God. How can this be? It doesn't matter how diligent we may be as far as church attendance and so on- if our thought life is contrary to scripture's teaching, we are living in rebellion. Those 'off track' thoughts will eventually reveal themselves through actions that are 'off track'. Luke 6:45 reads, “The good person out of the good treasure of his heart produces good, and the evil person out of his evil treasure produces evil, for out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.” Considering the fact that God alone is good, the only good we can do is the good that He produces in and through us. This does not refer to simply moral acts of ‘goodness’, but rather actions that come through the motivation to please God and glorify Him through obedience to His word.

If a person has not been truly born again of the Spirit, this will become apparent through various things within one’s life. It will become apparent in the kind of music one listens to, the kind of programs one watches and the kind of books one reads,(plus negligence in reading the most important book, the Bible). It will also show itself in the kind of company one desires to keep. If these things lead that one away from following our Lord’s commands, this would be a good indication that person is rebelling against those commands within his/her heart. One doesn’t totally rebel all at once; to begin with a person will start to slowly turn from doing what they know is right to things that may appear harmless at the time. However, the farther one strays- the harder that heart will become to the things of the Lord- until it may become so hardened a person turns completely away from following Him. We must be mindful of the following verse, “The LORD is with you while you are with him. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will forsake you” (2 Chronicles 15:2b). How can we reconcile this verse with the following, where the writer says, “Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5) I believe both verses to be true. It is true that the LORD will never forsake those who belong to Him, but if someone is deceiving themselves and others with a false profession and this deception becomes apparent when that person turns his/her back on one’s faith, that is a good indication that they did not possess a saving faith to begin with, and they are in need of repentance and a true turning to the Lord, for in James 4:8 we read, “Draw near to God, and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded.”

God is faithful and will do all He says. We are 100% responsible for our actions and must turn to Him in obedience if we would desire to have Him always near us. Deuteronomy 4:29 reads,“seek the Lord your God and you will find him, if you search after him with all your heart and with all your soul.” 1 Chronicles 16:11 admonishes us to, “Seek the Lord and his strength; seek his presence continually”! If we are not truly seeking God through the study of His word and prayer, as well as striving to live in obedience to His word, we are deceiving ourselves if we think we are genuine in the faith, but God is not deceived. He alone knows the truth of the matter, “For I know their works and their thoughts...” (Isaiah 66:18). He will truly judge the hearts of all men, “Let us therefore strive to enter that rest, so that no one may fall by the same sort of disobedience. For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account” (Hebrews 4:11-13).