By Marc Smith
No one can doubt that the heart of man is of central importance to the Lord. The Creator did not want creatures who automatically obey and worship Him without choosing to love Him. The Lord created us with a will of our own. We have the ability, completely on our own, to choose or choose not to love Him.
Joshua told the children of Israel in Josh. 24:23, ...incline your heart to the LORD God of Israel." Of all the living things of Gods Creation this shows the reasoning power that man had been given. Israel was required to think, to consider these words. They were to think about Gods word, its effect upon them and then choose. Josh 24:15, "...choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve, whether the gods which your fathers served.... But as for me and my house, we will serve the LORD."
We know this specifically was the Lords desire when we read His promise to the children of Israel in Ex. 19:5, Now therefore, if you will indeed obey My voice and keep My covenant, then you shall be a special treasure to Me above all people; for all the earth is Mine. Do you hear the condition given? IF you obey My voice & keep My covenant. The choice then was mans and the choice now is mans (1 Pt. 2:9, But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light;)
Moses also told them in Deut 30:6, And the LORD your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your descendants, to love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live. Col. 2:11, In Him you were also circumcised with the circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the sins of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ. We still choose to serve God or not. If we decide toserve Him it is because we put off the body of the sins of the flesh that He has offered us by baptism.
It is the heart of man that God is assessing. Upon further investigation in the Old Testament we see how the Lord saved Hezekiah from death and Jerusalem from capture by Assyria for fifteen more years because he judged the heart of Hezekiah as good toward God, II Kings. 20:3-5, "Remember now, O LORD, I pray, how I have walked before You in truth and with a loyal heart, and have done what was good in Your sight." And Hezekiah wept bitterly. And it happened, before Isaiah had gone out into the middle court, that the word of the LORD came to him, saying, "Return and tell Hezekiah the leader of My people, 'Thus says the LORD, the God of David your father: "I have heard your prayer, I have seen your tears; surely I will heal you. The Lord not only saved Hezekiahs life but the entire city of Jerusalem and the entire population for the period of Hezekiahs extended life.
Now, a conclusion that anyone can see is that we can either be right or wrong in the decision we make toward God. We are to cultivate good hearts toward God and man. The Lord has long been counseling us about our hearts. In Proverbs we read, (26:23-25) Fervent lips with a wicked heart are like earthenware covered with silver dross. He who hates, disguises it with his lips, and lays up deceit within himself; When he speaks kindly, do not believe him, for there are seven abominations in his heart;
In the New Testament we are shown the complete wisdom of God on how to get to heaven. The heart is the guiding focus we are to maintain toward God. Mt. 5:8, Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.
Toward others we must develop compassion and consideration. This is not always easy and requires work and dedication to achieve. Col 3:12-15, Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, long-suffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. The effect that the hearts of Christians can have upon the world will always glorify God. Our very lives demonstrating such hearts which always point back to the Lord will win souls for Christ and make this old sinful world a much finer place.
We can be saved by our hearts! But we must constantly remember that God is aware of the attitudes our hearts often harbor and that these are not worthy of Him if their source is the world and not of Him. As Jesus told the Pharisees in Luke 16:15, You are those who justify yourselves before men, but God knows your hearts. For what is highly esteemed among men is an abomination in the sight of God. The Lord wants sincere hearts dedicated to Him, Eph 6:5, ...with fear and trembling, in sincerity of heart, as to Christ;