“O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” Psalm 15:1 ESV
Reflection: how can we know someone is walking with the Lord?
We all know that it is so much easier to say something, than to actually do it, right? Let’s say a friend of yours just bought a house, and you commit to them to help them move in. The date for the move is set, and it ends up landing on a Saturday you had planned to golf with an important client that is in town. You know that your friend needs your help, and that you have committed to help them long before you knew your client was coming. But this is an important business deal; it might even mean a significant bonus. So what do you do?
If there was one thing that Jesus hated more than anything else, it was probably hypocrisy. Saying one thing, but really without meaning it. One such illustration, is the parable of the two sons which He shared with the chief hypocrites of the day; the chief priests and the elders of the people. Let’s read it. “What do you think? A man had two sons. And he went to the first and said, ‘Son, go and work in the vineyard today.’ And he answered, ‘I will not,’ but afterward he changed his mind and went. And he went to the other son and said the same. And he answered, ‘I will, sir,’ but did not go. Which of the two did the will of his father?” They said, “The first.” Jesus said to them, “Truly, I say to you, the tax collectors and the prostitutes go into the kingdom of God before you.” Matthew 21:28-31 ESV.
In this parable, we see something very interesting. It is not the words that guide a person’s actions, but something else. You might have noticed that both sons do the opposite of what they had said, what they had committed to do. So what actually drove them then? It was something much deeper than the words they said. It was a deep conviction; a matter of what was actually in their hearts. The heart is the true “rudder” of our lives, that sets our direction, regardless of the direction of the wind that is blowing, if we use a sailing analogy. David wrote so beautifully about this, such as in psalm 15, where he starts out asking the question “O Lord, who shall sojourn in your tent? Who shall dwell on your holy hill?” Psalm 15:1 ESV. A question that we all may wrestle with. And we see the rest of the psalm describing such a deep conviction that leads to living a righteous life. Let’s read it.
“He who walks blamelessly and does what is right and speaks truth in his heart; who does not slander with his tongue and does no evil to his neighbor, nor takes up a reproach against his friend; in whose eyes a vile person is despised, but who honors those who fear the Lord; who swears to his own hurt and does not change; who does not put out his money at interest and does not take a bribe against the innocent. He who does these things shall never be moved.” Psalm 15:2-5 ESV. It is not about what we say; it is all about what we do, out of our hearts. The Bible describes our actions as “fruit”, and Jesus said that “So, every healthy tree bears good fruit, but the diseased tree bears bad fruit. A healthy tree cannot bear bad fruit, nor can a diseased tree bear good fruit.” Matthew 7:17-18 ESV.
Can we tell if someone is walking with the Lord, outside of what they say? Thankfully, we are not the judge of others, but we can observe the direction of their ‘boat”, from the fruits of their lives, as David described in psalm 15. Fruit that is not from trying to earn favor or righteousness with God, or even to earn favor with people. No, it is done out of a humble and grateful heart, filled with truth in reverence and fear of the Lord. It is not the words we say, but it is a matter of our hearts.