Heart Matters

(Message by Pastor Philip Joseph. Hearty reading!)
When God rejected king Saul because he did not follow the LORD fully, He sent prophet Samuel to the house of Jesse to anoint the next king of Israel. Samuel on reaching the house of Jesse, and seeing his elder sons thought to himself that they were fit for God’s anointing because they were valiant-looking and strong: But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.” [1 Samuel 16:7]

The heart of the matter is matters concerning the heart; God is interested in our heart-condition. Think about how much time you spend on your outward appearance- the gazing in the mirror, the arranging of hair, the grooming and so much more… Now do we not neglect the matters concerning the heart? The inner man remains neglected! It is my burden today to share with you this: Let us check our heart condition.
We may look “cool” outwardly- dress well, come to church, join in worship and prayer, and yet can leave the place without any edification in our heart. But God is now looking at your heart… is it anyway tuned to hear Him? Is it anyway nearer in kindness and dearer in God’s love? Apostle Paul spent an entire day in Rome, explaining salvation in the name of Jesus and that Jesus was Christ indeed; but at the end he concludes this quoting from Isaiah 6: For the hearts of this people have grown dull. Their ears are hard of hearing, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears, lest they should understand with their hearts and turn, so that I should heal them [Acts 28:27].

Why do Christians who are filled with knowledge let their hearts grow dull? Why did the people of Israel, who saw the greatest of miracles in Egypt and in the wilderness- being filled with manna from above, day after day- not for weeks or months, but imagine a full 40 years- and water out of rock, and meat in the wilderness, constantly murmured and complained and let down their guard and faith while facing the ‘giants’ of Palestine, before whom they looked like grass-hoppers? In Hebrews 3:10 God says: Therefore I was angry with that generation, and said, They always go astray in their heart, and they have not known My ways.

The Psalmist contemplates teaching the children- the generation to come, of God’s ways and to set their hope in Him. And not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments; and may not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not set its heart aright. (Psalm 78: 8). Have you been taught by your parents? Have you taught your children to put their hope in God?

The people of Jesus’ time had such a privilege of meeting the Master Himself- and hearing Him speak, words of grace and truth. Yet, many turned away and did not quite get what Jesus was saying. “These people draw near to Me with their mouth, and honor Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me.” [Matt. 15:8] How do you draw near to Jesus? Is your heart far away? The Pharisees were experts in the law of Moses; and they made a routine and ritual out of God’s commandments and laws. They had long robes and made long prayers, but fell way short of God’s expectation; because they were blind!

There is one miracle of Jesus (out of so many miracles) that all the four gospel writers – Matthew, Mark, Luke and John, write about: The miracle of how more than 5000 men (apart from women and children) were fed by five loaves of bread and 2 fishes. But immediately after, on seeing Jesus walking on the sea, the disciples were terrified. Mark writes: For they had not understood about the loaves, because their heart was hardened. [Mark 6:52]
Like the people of Rome, or the Israelites during the time of Moses, or the Pharisees during the time of Jesus, or the disciples themselves, there may be a hardening of our heart. We must be careful not to allow this that our hearts become hardened, but allow His Spirit to always reach us, teach us- always being tender-hearted and yielding to His love. God is really interested in taking away our hearts of stone and giving us hearts of flesh; God is interested in creating in us a clean heart. That you may be people who can keep the one great (first) commandment: Love the Lord with all your heart, all your soul, all your mind, all your strength. [Mark 12: 30]

From the people in the Old testament, there is one person who was careful to keep his heart tender- the young lad David, who was finally anointed as king over Israel by the prophet Samuel. God’s testimony of David is remarkable: I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will. [Acts 13:22]
God’s rejection of Saul, and approval of David is a lesson of the heart for all of us. There were kings after David, who obeyed God’s commands, and served Him alone. But what set David apart is that he went on to touch the heart of God. He was not only a great composer of music, a great poet, a courageous warrior- but as he was given rest, he would contemplate on what to do for God. One day, he was sitting in his palace, and pondered why God’s ark is still in a tent! Immediately he called for the prophet Nathan and told him of his plan to build God’s temple. God was so pleased that He told David that He would make his name great because he had thought about this thing. And even though God appointed David’s heir to throne to actually build the temple (because David was a man of bloodshed), David went about with passion to design and make arrangements for artisans and skilled workers, and making provisions for materials and resources. Later on, all Solomon had to do was coordinate the work to see the completion of the temple. Even on his deathbed, David instructed Solomon to complete the building of the temple. Mark his words: As for you, my son Solomon, know the God of your father, and serve Him with a loyal heart and with a willing mind; for the LORD searches all hearts and understands all the intent of the thoughts. If you seek Him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will cast you off forever. (1 Chr. 28:9)

The LORD knows our hearts intentions. We may hide it from our people, but the Lord knows. You see- the LORD loved Solomon too and granted him to have such great wisdom and understanding, that he set right many proverbs, wrote theses on animals, plants and life and living in general. But, he lacked the willing heart that would go after God at all costs.

Today let it be us and our hearts that would go after God. Do not let your hearts go astray; do not let your hearts grow dull; do not let your hearts go far away from God; do not let your hearts be hardened. But let us love the Lord with all our hearts; let us pursue after God and seek His will; let us be men and women after God own’s heart doing God’s will; let us serve Him with all our heart.

God grant us hearts of flesh to be tender-hearted. Amen.