For God will bring every deed into judgment, with every secret thing, whether good or evil.
Ecclesiastes 12:14, ESV
God knows our hearts. The preacher spoke of this in Ecclesiastes, and Christ reminds us of this in his parable in the 25th Chapter of St. Matthew. In this parable, we find Jesus describing two groups being separated for their king, one on the left and the other on the right. Both are confronted with the work of helping the poor, the sick, the hungry, the thirsty, the naked, and the imprisoned. Those on the right ask the question of when their lord was in this state. The question was a question of the state of their heart. The work we do is not meant to be based upon making sure that we do the right things to be saved but on a realization of the salvation that we have received and how that realization changes our hearts in our service to others. We can’t hedge our bets through our works because salvation is already ours in Christ Jesus when we believe.
Let us pray. I thank you, my heavenly Father, through Jesus Christ, your dear Son, that you have kept me this night from all harm and danger, and I ask you to protect me this day also from sin and every evil, that in all I do today, I may please you. For into your hands, I commend myself, my body and soul, and all that is mine. Let your holy angel watch over me, that the wicked foe have no power over me. Amen.