November 8

I will make justice the measuring line and righteousness the level. Hail will sweep away your refuge of lies, and water will flood your hiding place. — Isa 28:17 BSB

When the Holy Spirit begins and continues His work of grace in a person's heart, He constantly weighs and measures all of their religious experiences against God’s word and will, ensuring everything aligns with His truth. Rest assured, the Lord, who “weighs the spirits” (Proverbs 16:2) and “weighs actions” (1 Samuel 2:3), will test both nature and grace, human and divine teaching, in His perfect scales, so that we may know what is truly of value in His sight. The religion of today often mixes everything together, obscuring the true work of grace in the heart.

But God will never allow the faith He has worked in us to remain in this confused state. He will measure it by His standard and refine it through trials. This is how we come to know the genuineness of His work. When He gives faith, He will test it with heavy burdens, just as we weigh an object by placing it in a scale and balancing it against a standard weight. The greater the faith, the heavier the trial. Abraham, the father of the faithful, was asked to sacrifice his own son. When God grants hope, He allows despondency to test that hope. When He sheds His love abroad in our hearts, He brings trials and temptations to prove it. This is how the child of God learns the true meaning of “the work of faith, labor of love, and patience of hope” (1 Thessalonians 1:3).

Every good token, every sip of mercy, and every sign of love from God is weighed and examined in the conscience to know if it is genuine. And not only is our faith weighed, but so are our sins—secret sins, backslidings, idolatrous affections, and presumptuous confidences. All are placed in the scales of the sanctuary. What comes from God will be found to be genuine and lasting, while all that stems from our flesh and human nature will bear the mark “weighed and found wanting.”