One of my children always finds hearts in unexpected places. Rocks, soaps, fabrics, food – she discovers them everywhere. She seems to pursue them on an unconscious level.
Our Heavenly Father is actively in pursuit of hearts.
2 Chronicles 16:9 tells us, “For the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show Himself strong on behalf of those whose heart is loyal to Him.”
Our Heavenly Father is seeking hearts turned toward Him. My child finds pleasure in seeking hearts for the sake of finding symbols of love.
God delights in discovering those who depend on Him, whose hearts, minds, and souls are focused above, and no one, or nothing else.
When Christ is not at the center of our heart, we cannot be receptive to God and will not shine Him in our words and actions. If the light is not in us, it cannot pour out of us.
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it? I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, even to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings.” Jeremiah 17:9-10
Only through surrendering to Christ can we have a heart that carries motives pleasing to God.
My main concern with our culture today is the condition of the human heart. We live in a society so far from God, following the desires and moods of deceit. When we seek and find the Lord, He will shape our heart, our soul, into a new creation. He does this to refashion His people with value and enable us to become serviceable for Him.
Without Him, our lives lose purpose. We have no joy, no hope. The ability to put others before ourselves is not found.
Our society is eroding because of the focus of our hearts.
We are bound by a stranglehold of selfishness, apathy, complacency, and desire. The key to breaking the power of our bondage to sin is to transform the status of our hearts through Christ.
Though we obtain eternal life the moment we believe in, and profess Christ as Savior, we must allow Him to work through us as we grow in our relationship with Him. Moment by moment, day by day, we must allow Christ access to our hearts and minds so that we can experience the power of His promises and experience His transforming love.
So many profess to be Christians. The dictionary tells us that a Christian is “a person who has received Christian baptism or is a believer in Christianity.” It also says, “relating to or professing Christianity or its teachings.”
This is why there is such an epidemic of critical heart illness. We must focus on the true meaning of being Christians. It is incredibly deeper than the worldly definition.
Are we truly followers of Christ? Once we have accepted Christ as Savior, as the leader of our life, we must humble ourselves to submit under Him.
Deuteronomy 6:5-9 instructs, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength. And these words I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates.”
The Lord is to be the center of everything. In every day, in every thought and deed. Who we are and are becoming, what we think and do, our actions – all of it belongs to Him, and should honor and glorify Him.
The mightiness of His glory, power, and promises will remarkably transform the lives of each of us who humble ourselves and obey Him. In turn, our world will change. Only He has the ability to love, judge, and transform any of us.
Look Up. Not within. Not around. Make certain His heart abides in you. Be certain you know where your heart is abiding and what it is worshiping.