"And you, Solomon my son, know the God of your father and serve him with a whole heart and with a willing mind, for the LORD searches all hearts and understands every plan and thought. If you seek him, he will be found by you, but if you forsake him, he will cast you off forever. Be careful now, for the LORD has chosen you to build a house for the sanctuary; be strong and do it." - 1 Chrn 28:9-10
Have you ever been caught up in a bad situation but you genuinely were not seeking to do something wrong? Maybe you see or hear something you shouldn't, but you remove yourself immediately. Now, have you ever sought out a bad situation, but went to lengths to make it look like an 'accidental' occurrence? The point is, whether on a big or small scale, God knows our hearts and intentions. God not only sees everything, but He knows our thoughts and plans. In short, God cannot be tricked. We can fool other and we can even dupe ourselves, but the Lord knows what is really going on. Make no mistake, following Christ means a moral conformity to His character; we call this growth sanctification. While the Bible says "don't," it also says "do." This short passage shows pragmatically all of the available options. [1] You can decide to not follow the Lord. God knows your true thoughts regardless what your actions say (v. 9), and if you choose to forsake Him, you will be forever cast off (v. 9). [2] You can decide to follow the Lord. This is what is best (at least from David's point of view) (v. 9), and he rewards those who earnestly seek Him (v. 9 and Heb 11:6). Not only that, but He has a plan for you, that will require purpose and determination. We can emphasize the "don't" at the price of the "do." For Solomon there is something to aspire to, a task that is worthy of a life – to build the Lord a house (v. 10). Our assigned tasks from God are worthy of our lives as well. Therefore our encouragement is the same – be strong and do it!
