January 9

The Test of Life

Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, walking blamelessly in all the commandments and decrees of the Lord. — Luke 1:6 BSB

This is a beautiful thing to have said of them. But in the end, that is the true test every life must face. It’s not enough to have human praise—how do we stand before God? How does our life appear to Him? No matter how much people may praise or admire us, if God sees us differently, then we’re in trouble. The Pharisees were seen as righteous by people, but if you want to know how they appeared in God’s eyes, just read the twenty-third chapter of Matthew. We are, in reality, exactly what we are before God—nothing more, nothing less. The question we should always ask is, “What does God think of this?” If we want to win His approval, we must first make sure our hearts are right, and then we must be sincere and true in every part of our lives.

One of the old artists was carefully chiseling the back part of a statue. Someone asked him, “Why are you being so detailed with the hair on the back of the statue? It will be placed high in a niche, and no one will ever see its back.” The artist replied, “The gods will see it.”

We should learn from this old artist. We should work just as honestly in the areas of life that are hidden, as we do in the parts that will be seen by others. For God will see it. We should live just as purely and beautifully in secret as we do in the public eye. In truth, there is no such thing as secrecy in this world. We might think no one is watching when we’re not in front of others, but in reality, we’re always living in the presence of angels and God Himself. We should train ourselves to live and work for God’s eyes in everything we do so that our work will stand up to His inspection, and we can have His approval and commendation.