Sermonette: July 22, 2019

God weighs the spirit

“I’m a good person.” “I do good things.” These are phrases I hear tossed around quite a bit. Especially at funerals, I frequently hear people justify why they should be able to get into heaven by stating that they ‘are good people’ or that the deceased was ‘a good person.’ It seems that it is natural that when we are faced with whether or not we are ‘good’ people, we can’t help but judge by what we think. The measuring stick, by which we determine whether or not we’re going to make it into heaven, is apparently in our head. Solomon, however, disagrees.

“All the ways of a man are pure in his own eyes,

But the Lord weights the spirit.”

Proverbs 16:2

When asked whether or not we’re good people, it’s natural to consider the question and come back with an answer. The truth, however, is our opinion is meaningless. We all believe we’re good people! Otherwise, we wouldn’t make the choices we make. Therefore, our opinion of ourselves is utterly meaningless. We are tainted too badly to accurately measure whether we’re good people or not.

Instead, the question is: what does God think of us? You might consider yourself a great example of a person, but what matters is how God sees you. God alone can ‘weight the spirit.’ It’s the results of God weighing us that’ll determine our eternal destination. It’s his approval, not our own that we need to get. So, live that way. Live like we’re seeking God’s approval, and not our own.