The Heart Of The Matter

The Heart Of The Matter

I couldn’t believe what I saw recently in Khartoum, Sudan – the driver of a donkey cart filling up its big oil tank with petrol at our local petrol station! I had to look twice because I couldn’t believe my eyes.

I know that donkey carts don’t use petrol. They use “donkey power” – which comes from the food the animal eats, not from the fuel the driver was putting into that tank!

Looking at the reality behind the appearance, I soon realized the donkey, the driver and the cart were simply getting ready to deliver that drum of fuel to someone else. It wasn’t what I first thought it to be.

Unlike us, God doesn’t get deceived by outward appearances. The Bible says that “man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart” (1 Sam. 16:7 NIV), the person’s real inner-self. He sees us and understands what we are really like.

The most amazing thing is that although God sees us as we really are, He still loves us. His love gave us His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, who died on the cross for our sins, rose again, and now lives to help us become more and more the kind of people God wants us to be (Jn. 3:16-17).

Don’t be fooled by your own outward appearance. God isn’t. Take a long, hard look at yourself. And then take a second look at God. The starting point for lasting change is seeing the truth, not missing it.

Jesus said, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through Me. If you really knew Me, you would know the Father as well” (Jn. 14:6-7). Fill your life with Jesus and that fuel will take you all the way to heaven. We can tell you more!

By Colin Salter