Daily Devotional – Sunday, May 31, 2026
I, the LORD, search the heart. I test the mind.
Jeremiah 17:10 (NKJV)
I am travelling to an area regarded as insecure on a public service bus. We arrive at a security checkpoint. All passengers alight with their national identity cards for the menacing security agents to check. Meanwhile, a posh private car approaches. The occupants greet the guards with giant smiles and are waved past the barrier. No checks. No questions.
When Looks Deceive
As if reading my mind, a fellow passenger asks (as we wait for the rest of our colleagues to be cleared), “Do the officers think people in private vehicles cannot be carrying weapons or planning to commit atrocities?” Our conversation leads to the conclusion that human beings judge by what they see. Perceptions often becloud logic.
That is the sense I get when I read today’s key text. Unlike human beings, who rely on their fallible senses to make assessments and decisions about others and about events and experiences, God searches the heart and tests the mind. He sees what the naked human eye is incapable of.
This means that only God can administer true justice and fairness. Consider what He tells the prophet: “Even to render every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” (verse 17:10b). The hidden evil thoughts and motives eventually betray themselves in undeniable fruits.
When God Searches the Heart
Our inherently wicked hearts (read verse 9) are known and understood by the Lord, so instead of hiding behind facades, we need to turn to God and ask Him to heal our wickedness (read verse 14). Only God can rid us of our hypocrisy and hidden sins, which other human beings cannot see and which lead to eternal death.
Today, surrender your heart and mind to God. Ask Him to search it and rid it of any sin that may hinder you from inheriting eternal life and living productively here on earth. In the same vein, ask Him to help you stop judging others on mere appearances and that you begin to see them as candidates for eternity.
Prayer
Almighty God, search my heart, cleanse it of all sin and hypocrisy, and let my life reflect the outworking of Your grace in me.
