The Heart Of The Matter
Jeremiah 17
9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
10 I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
Luke 10
25 And, behold, a certain lawyer stood up, and tempted him, saying, Master, what shall I do to inherit eternal life?
26 He said unto him, What is written in the law? how readest thou?
27 And he answering said, Thou shalt love the Lord thy God with all thy heart, and with all thy soul, and with all thy strength, and with all thy mind; and thy neighbour as thyself.
28 And he said unto him, Thou hast answered right: this do, and thou shalt live.
Luke 12
30 For all these things do the nations of the world seek after: and your Father knoweth that ye have need of these things.
31 But rather seek ye the kingdom of God; and all these things shall be added unto you.
32 Fear not, little flock; for it is your Father's good pleasure to give you the kingdom.
33 Sell that ye have, and give alms; provide yourselves bags which wax not old, a treasure in the heavens that faileth not, where no thief approacheth, neither moth corrupteth.
34 For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also.
Acts 11
22 Then tidings of these things came unto the ears of the church which was in Jerusalem: and they sent forth Barnabas, that he should go as far as Antioch.
23 Who, when he came, and had seen the grace of God, was glad, and exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they would cleave unto the Lord.
24 For he was a good man, and full of the Holy Ghost and of faith: and much people was added unto the Lord.
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Jeremiah 24
1 The Lord shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.
2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.
3 Then said the Lord unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.
4 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying,
5 Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.
6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.
7 And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the Lord: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.
8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:
9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.
10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.
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I’m reading in Jeremiah now. As I read the above passage, verse seven punched me in the … heart. Not focusing on context (right at that moment), I had an inner swelling that cried out for … “an heart to know Me”.
It makes me think of Paul in his writing to the Philippians where he cries out in chapter three:
7 But what things were gain to me, those I counted loss for Christ.
8 Yea doubtless, and I count all things but loss for the excellency of the knowledge of Christ Jesus my Lord: for whom I have suffered the loss of all things, and do count them but dung, that I may win Christ,
9 And be found in him, not having mine own righteousness, which is of the law, but that which is through the faith of Christ, the righteousness which is of God by faith:
10 That I may know him, and the power of his resurrection, and the fellowship of his sufferings, being made conformable unto his death;
11 If by any means I might attain unto the resurrection of the dead.
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I really do believe the heart cry of every believer is to know the Saviour down into the very depths of his being. There’s just one thing (well, maybe two): it’s something God has to do within us and it’s something we have to hunger for from within ourselves.
It’s sort of like when the Saviour says in Matthew 5:6 — Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.
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When it comes to the heart we have to be really careful. The heart can be easily swayed intellectually and spiritually. And, the only way I’ve found to guide my heart is by staying in, and being focused upon, the Word of God. It will always tell us the truth about ourselves. Perhaps that is why our flesh finds it such a struggle to regularly come before it.
This passage in Hebrews 4 seems to bear that out:
12 For the word of God is quick, and powerful, and sharper than any twoedged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit, and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the HEART.
13 Neither is there any creature that is not manifest in his sight: but all things are naked and opened unto the eyes of him with whom we have to do.
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Fellowship with God through a personal relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ is like a two-edged sword. On the one hand it protects us and on the other hand it rips us to shreds. That’s the beauty of coming to the Word. It (He) knows what we need when we need it and will give it to us either with a hug or a kick in the rear end. It really is up to us as to which it will be.
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Approaching the Word of God is a blessed journey that will always direct us back to the “straight-and-narrow” when we start to stray.
That‘s one of the things I noticed, and was blessed by, when reading Pilgrim’s Progress. The journey through the strait gate (and ultimately to the Celestial City) is not the cruise ship vacation we might have envisioned. There are hills, valleys, pits, good people, evil people to navigate through. And if that wasn’t enough … we have to take ourself along with us. Other than that, it’s a piece of cake.
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How’s your heart? Be careful before you respond. It’s been my experience that the heart is like the slippery fish that gets caught: if you’re not careful it will get away from you.
Trow so?
I trowly know so.
And I think you trow so too.
The Heart Of The Matter is this …
The heart really does matter.