When I was in high school, my dad told me that chewing gum could be a sin. That was a shocking thing to hear, and I doubted it, so I asked him where that was in Scripture. I figured he would point to Leviticus or something, but he went to James 4:7 which says that it’s sin to know to do right and then to choose not to do it. Since chewing gum was against school rules, I would be in willful rebellion knowing the rule and choosing not to obey it. That day my concept of sin changed. I had associated sin with an action of doing something that was a “thou shalt not.” My dad was teaching me that sin is often a matter of the hearts and my motivation. Man looks on the outward appearance, but God looks at the heart.
In Numbers 22, we read the story of Balaam and his donkey riding through town. I’ve always kind of thought positively about him despite this story, but everywhere he’s mentioned in the Bible refers to him negatively. He had refused to curse Israel no matter what. They kept trying to bride him to go with them to do it, but he refused. He then told them to stay one more night to see if God would change his mind. That’s when God told him he could go with them. The next morning Balaam saddled his own donkey to go with them indicating his desire and eagerness to go with them. Verse 22 says that God got angry at Balaam because his motives were wrong in going. That’s when the donkey began to act crazy and finally spoke to him.
1 Thessalonians 2:4 says, “For we speak as messengers approved by God to be entrusted with the Good News. Our purpose is to please God, not people. He alone examines the motives of our hearts” (NLT). You and I are able to do the right things for the wrong reasons. God looks at our heart though. We might be able to fool others, but we can’t fool God. What has God asked you to do, but you’re hesitating or choosing to do something different? What have you been doing with the wrong motivation or desire in your heart? We have to be careful that we don’t become like Balaam or Jonah who said and did the right thing, but had improper motives that were hidden. God sees our heart and will use whatever He needs to in order to correct the sin hidden in our lives, including a donkey or giant fish.
Photo by Fabian Centeno on Unsplash
Devotions by Chris Hendrix 