HEARTLESS....

Have you ever heard the term that someone is heartless? Perhaps you've heard someone say it this way.... "man that was heartless" or some other similar usage. What they are saying is that whatever action prompted the statement was one that was so bad it was as if that individual had no heart. This simply meant that the action was one that demonstrated a serious lack of caring, or insensitivity toward another.

Now, in reality, heartless..... could that ever be true? Of course not. Physically, we could not function without our fist sized God given muscle pumping in each of us. Heart issues are really very serious issues. Heart disease is a major killer in our world today. Many die premature deaths because they do not deal with their own personal hearts. All because they do not make sure their own hearts are in "good" working order and take care to make sure they do all humanly possible to care for their own heart.

Now what is true for us physically is also true for us spiritually as well. Listen to what God's word has to say to us....

Proverbs 4:23.... Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Now from this simple little gift from Proverbs we learn some powerful life principles. First God gives us what we SHOULD be careful to do......Keep your heart......In some versions this says GUARD your heart. Both are accurate and give us a good understanding of what HE meant. When we read KEEP we think of tending, cultivating, protecting, etc....and when we think of GUARD we think of protecting, sheltering, covering and the like. Both help us to get the fulness of the passage. We should be careful with our hearts. Careful to tend it, cultivate around it, protect it, shelter it and cover it. Just as we should care for our physical hearts we should also care for our spiritual hearts as well.

In fact, scripture says to keep our hearts with all vigilance. This gives us the intensity level that we should apply to keeping and guarding our hearts. Intensely, vigilantly, diligently are words that describe  the priority and effort we should put towards this. God is saying to us that this should be a PRIORITY to all of us! Guarding our hearts vigilantly should be the norm rather than the exception.

Why is this soooo important? Because of the rest of the verse..... for out of it springs/flow the issues of life. Our heart affects every area of our life. Not just physically, but even more importantly, spiritually. The heart in God's word often refers to the mind as the center of thinking and reasoning, but also includes our emotions and our will. It represents our whole inner being. From the human heart (scripturally) everything of life flows!!!

Do you remember Matthew 15? Verse 18-20a... But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander. These are what defile a person......

What we do, say and the attitudes we reveal actually are reflections of our true hearts. In fact I have often said anyone can look like a believer when things are going well. But let things go wrong, or badly and our true hearts or self will be revealed. Sadly, far too many times what I see of myself reveals a heart problem. How about you? Now be honest! What do we do when we see a problem with our heart? Well, if it is a physical problem we would go to the Doctor and do as he says. But spiritually, we must go to the Master.

Heart issues are sin issues now aren't they? The heart doctor of the human soul teaches us to deal with our sin, quickly and honestly. So what do you actions reveal about your heart? Heartless, not at all. In reality, our hearts are far more involved than we can even realize. God's word is clear.....our hearts are critical in life.

Sin in our heart is revealed by actions that are not in line with God's word. The ONLY remedy to our heart issues is for us to acknowledge our sin, and then confess our sin to ourselves and to God as well. First to ourselves as we must be honest regarding our own actions/words and what they reveal. Secondly to God as only HE can cleanse us and set us free from our sin. This is the only way for us to be free from a HEART ISSUE!

My brother or sister, let our Lord search your heart. Let Him cleanse your heart. And then Guard your heart! With all your energy, search each and every area of your life and make sure you are sensitive to your heart. As you do and God corrects the areas that are not pleasing to Him, you will see the glory of God revealed through you......

And shall I say, You'll be glad you did....
Blessings
Pastor B