It’s all about the heart. Throughout the pages of the Bible – from Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden to the warnings given the seven churches of Asia – the message is repeated over and over: We and God are in a battle for our hearts. He wants them. We resist giving them. If someone were to ask me for a brief synopsis of the Word of God, I’d say it’s an amazing story about God’s work to rescue our hearts. No other subject gets more attention in the Bible than the state of human hearts.
Someone once took the time to list all the adjectives used in the Bible to describe the heart of man. Want to guess how many hearts the Bible describes? Fifty. Fifty different adjectives. The list includes broken, pure, proud, wicked, obstinate, wise, hard, despiteful, contrite, uncircumcised, honest, heavy, and new.
Face it. Most of us at one time or another have suffered serious, spiritual heart disease. Some of us may be suffering a life-threatening, spiritual heart condition right now. All our hearts – all of us – are desperate for help. Jeremiah gave the frightening diagnosis: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick….” (Jer. 17:9)
The same sun that softens and melts
butter also hardens clay.
The same Son who softens and melts
receptive hearts will harden others.
It’s all about the heart. Throughout the pages of the Bible – from Adam and Eve’s fall in the garden to the warnings given the seven churches of Asia – the message is repeated over and over: We and God are in a battle for our hearts. He wants them. We resist giving them. If someone were to ask me for a brief synopsis of the Word of God, I’d say it’s an amazing story about God’s work to rescue our hearts. No other subject gets more attention in the Bible than the state of human hearts.
Someone once took the time to list all the adjectives used in the Bible to describe the heart of man. Want to guess how many hearts the Bible describes? Fifty. Fifty different adjectives. The list includes broken, pure, proud, wicked, obstinate, wise, hard, despiteful, contrite, uncircumcised, honest, heavy, and new.
Face it. Most of us at one time or another have suffered serious, spiritual heart disease. Some of us may be suffering a life-threatening, spiritual heart condition right now. All our hearts – all of us – are desperate for help. Jeremiah gave the frightening diagnosis: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick….” (Jer. 17:9)
Thankfully the Bible reveals for us the heart of Jesus. It reveals Jesus’ heart of compassion and love. It opens Jesus’ heart to us as he was led to the cross to save us from our sinful hearts. His pure heart, his perfect heart, his glorious heart, his loving heart, his tender and compassionate heart – stopped beating on the cross for us.
Frankly, I’m amazed and humbled by his heart. Contemplating his heart renews my desire to look to Jesus and discover in him the heart I must strive to emulate. Are you ready too? If so, then recommit to opening the Word, exploring the heart of Jesus, and committing to becoming more like him. Let the treatment begin.
mjhennecke@gmail.com
from his Bible class book, A Heart Like Jesus