“We have all become like one who is unclean, and all our righteous deeds are like a polluted garment. We all fade like a leaf, and our iniquities, like the wind, take us away.”
“So I always take pains to have a clear conscience toward both God and man.”
Psalms 19:12 Who can discern his errors? Declare me innocent from hidden faults. Keep back your servant also from presumptuous sins; let them not have dominion over me! Then I shall be blameless, and innocent of great transgression. Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable in your sight, O LORD, my rock and my redeemer.
Job 6:24 “Teach me, and I will be silent; make me understand how I have gone astray.
1 Corinthians 4:4 For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me.
Psalms 139:23-24 Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Psalms 139:2 You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar.
Jeremiah 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?
Reading God’s word with intent to be taught and used by God will always lead us to a place where we understand more and more of His holiness and our unholiness. It is during these times of wanting to know Him more we become aware of how easy it is for us to put self ahead of God. These men of God spoke of the heart and how deceitful it is, the mind and how God knows all of our thoughts, and after seeing how easy it is for us to fall back to old ways asking God to search their heart and see if there was anything offensive to Him and to lead them in paths that honor Him. How do we know if we are honoring and glorifying God in our daily walk? How do we know if our heart is right before Him? How do we know if our thoughts are in line with His purpose? I wonder if there are times we use the culture to determine if we have a clear conscience or not rather than His word. This year commit to staying in His word with desire to have Him speak to your heart so that we humbly serve Him.