"Exposed"

"Nevertheless they did flatter him with their mouth, and they lied unto him with their tongues." (Psalms 78:36) Oh, we can fool each other easy enough, but God sees the heart; God can see our motives, even when we have not thought them up yet. That's a pretty scary thought. Think about that for a moment, because there are a lot of doors that never get opened, not because it's not God's will for us to step through them, but because our heart may not be right, and our motives for doing them are totally wrong. And the scary part of it is, we don't even know it sometimes. I am sure that sometimes we do; I mean, we know when we are doing something for our own personal gain, because usually we plan those things out in advance. But it's really not that simple, not when it comes to love and commitment. Oh, you thought I was going to say something else, didn't you? No, I think love and commitment are pretty much the two most misunderstood motives that we have; if you want to try to understand them at all! Do you want to know why that is? Really? Well, let me let you in on a little secret. We can love someone, and be committed to someone, and really really truly believe that we honestly are, but we love ourselves and are committed to our own self interest more, and don't even know it! Not until we meet that fork in the road, where my needs and wants no longer agree with your needs and wants; then love and commitment no longer matter. But, don't think for a moment that God does not see what is going to happen, because He can, and He does. To understand how this relates to our relationships with one another is pretty easy, because we all are so flawed and incapable of real love and commitment; but to understand how this works with our relationship with God, that is a totally different experience, altogether...
"Son of man, your people talk about you in their houses and whisper about you at the doors. They say to each other, 'Come on, let's go hear the prophet tell us what the LORD is saying!' So my people come pretending to be sincere and sit before you. They listen to your words, but have no intention of doing what you say. Their mouths are full of lustful words, and their hears seek only after money. You are very entertaining to them, like someone who sings love songs with a beautiful voice or plays on an instrument. They hear what you say, but they don't act on it! But when all these terrible things happen to them -as they certainly will -then they will know a prophet has been among them." (Ezekiel 33:30-33) NLT