1 Kings 15: What does God see?

Verse 3:

Abijah committed all the sins his father had done before him; his heart was not fully devoted to the Lord his God, as the heart of David his forefather had been.

Verse 11:

Asa did what was right in the eyes of the Lord, as his father David had done.

◇ Chapter 15 is the story of Abijah and Asa, the fourth and fifth kings of the southern kingdom of Judah. In the divided kingdom of Israel, there was constant warfare between the north and south. The standard by which these two kings of the southern kingdom are judged is whether they were wholehearted before God and right in the eyes of the Lord. And the benchmark for comparison is King David. In assessing the kings who waged relentless wars, the criteria were not about how much plunder they acquired in victory, how much land they seized, or how much tribute they collected.

Is one wholehearted before God, and right in the eyes of God? What does God look at in us? Our achievements? The fruits of success? Wealth and honors? People judge by such things, but God does not. God's criteria for judgment are different. Are we wholehearted before God, and are we honest in God's sight?

♧ O Lord, may we be wholehearted and upright in your sight! Holy Spirit, lead us in the way of truth!