“But, I feel fine.” “Are you sure, because I work out several times a week?” “I don’t smoke or eat fatty foods, so how could this be?” These are some of the reactions doctors receive when a patient is shown negative results of an electrocardiogram, or EKG. It’s a brilliant piece of technology that 
measures the electrical activity of the human heart. An EKG finds the cause of unexplained chest pain, shortness of breath or just examines the condition of the heart in light of a family history of early heart disease. No matter how healthy patients appear on the outside or what they may think about their hearts’ health, the EKG is the absolute authority on the condition of their hearts.
As Christians, we can appear to be the picture of spiritual health with our good deeds and kind words. And, we should. After all, we have a new nature and it’s what people expect from us. But, if it were possible to be connected to a spiritual EKG, what would the results reveal about the heart (or motive) of our good deeds and kind words? A sobering reality is that every believer is under a constant spiritual EKG. 1 Samuel 16:7 says, “But the LORD said to Samuel, ‘Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.’”
One of the most defining characteristics of the Pharisees during Jesus’ earthly ministry was their external religious performances. Even Jesus acknowledged how good their deeds appeared to the people. But, Jesus gave them an examination that went deeper than their external works. Read Matthew 23. Verses 27-28 say, “Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You are like whitewashed tombs, which look beautiful on the outside but inside are full of dead men’s bones and everything unclean. In the same way, on the outside you appear to people as righteous but on the inside you are full of hypocrisy and wickedness.” Earlier in the chapter, Jesus read the results of their spiritual EKGs and told them about the blockage in their hearts. The Pharisees were consumed with seeking the praise of men, rather than the approval of God.
So, how can we avoid the useless works of the Pharisees and know that our good is TRULY good? I believe it starts with a fundamental understanding that apart from Jesus Christ and His Spirit working freely in our hearts, we are incapable of doing or saying anything good, no matter how we feel about it or how it appears to others. The prophet Jeremiah, in chapter 17, shared the results of our spiritual EKG. Verses 9-10 say, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve.”
Next, we must stop relying on self-examinations of righteousness, which are often based on faulty readings, such as good things people say about our ministry work, or how much we give. Those things, in and of themselves, are not wrong, just unreliable for knowing that our good is God-approved. Instead, we must let every word and deed come under the light of God’s counsel and accept His EKG of our motives and work.
Sometimes, the physical heart can become so damaged by misuse and abuse that a transplant is a person’s only hope. At the point of salvation, God gave us a new spiritual heart. And He seeks to fill it daily with right motives for the good we say and do. But, there is some prep work needed from us. It requires a total surrender and declaration of dependence on God, Who alone can produce right motives in us (Phil 2:13). David experienced the damage of a bad heart and suffered greatly for it when he went after Bathsheba. After months of heartache and depression, he sought the LORD for a transplant. Psalm 51:10, “Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”
How sobering it is to know that someday, each of us will stand before God with our works under His piercing judgment. So, let’s not waste another deed or word, but bring every motive through prayer into the light of His counsel. Then we will have confidence in that day that our good is TRULY good!
