Test

As a teacher several years ago, I remember that I could not always be sure what students knew by giving them a test, but that I could easily find out what they did not know.

Our Preacher reminded us Sunday night that God is a giver of tests. Better said, He tests our heart.

In Jeremiah 12:3, Scripture tells us – As for You, Lord, You know me; You see me. You test whether my heart is with You. I continue to wonder what He discovers when He tests my heart. Perhaps you would be interested in what He finds in yours.

There are two outcomes (maybe a lot more), one here, and one a little later, that I find most interesting after spending a lifetime with God’s people. In verse 2, we read this: You are ever on their lips, but far from their conscience. That reminds me of a lot of people I have met along the way, and, regrettably, of myself sometimes. I am confident it speaks clearly to our Father of what we don’t know, and it ought to speak to us as well.

Another result is found in a later passage, Jeremiah 17:7-8, that perhaps speaks to a better outcome regarding the test. Here are words that ought to strike us as the “right” finding when God tests our heart.

The man who trusts in the Lord,
whose confidence indeed is the Lord, is blessed.
He will be like a tree planted by water:
it sends its roots out toward a stream,
it doesn’t fear when heat comes,
and its foliage remains green.
It will not worry in a year of drought
or cease producing fruit.

Yep! That’s “passing” the test.