When God examines your heart what does he see?
God fishes for Christ in us: “Once again, the kingdom of heaven is like a net that was let down into the lake and caught all kinds of fish. When it was full, the fishermen pulled it up on the shore. Then they sat down and collected the good fish in baskets, but threw the bad away” (Matthew 13:47-48a). In Jesus’ Parable of the Net, He said that the fish were separated into two groups: the good and the bad. Interestingly, the determination of where each fish was tossed was not predicated on the fish itself; but rather, the life within the fish. The apostle Paul said that each one of us will be judged as good or bad by what we have done with Christ, responding with either a humble heart of full surrender or a proud heart of rejection (see Romans 2:5-6, 16)
Two kinds of prideful rejection swim in the sea of life, one at the top and one at the rock bottom of God’s dragnet. Those who trust in their own goodness float to the top, and those who trust in their own badness sink to the bottom. The former tend to be religious, and the latter irreligious. Either way, they will be tossed out as bad if they did not humble their hearts in full surrender to Christ, receiving His heart and life of transformational righteousness. It is Christ in us that deems us as good fish (see Colossians 1:27).
Where are you swimming in God’s dragnet? Are you at the top or at rock bottom? How have you truly responded to Christ?