Your Heart

Introduction

Some of the most glorious and Intimate moments I have experienced with God have been in a small mountain range just south of the arctic circle in the Brooks range. Often I would find myself in a car with a a couple teenagers taking them camping out in the range to see mountain sheep or black bears off in the distance preparing for the winters cold, storing up on last minute berries or the unfortunate ground squirrel. But times did in fact allow me to escape their to be alone with God on my own.

I recall one instance where after what felt like a long season of battle loses, I was at the trail head with my .357 and a day pact ready for any challenge the mountain would give me, searching for God to speak. I set off, very aware of the poor weather I would see and the daunting stream that was minutes from the start of this 8 mile hike to the first site. The thing about this hike is very much in the first mile. if you can keep your feet dry and make a significant amount a noise through the alders your in for some of the most beautiful views God has blessed this planet with.

I was not so lucky. Not but 5 minutes into the hike, I found myself on my rear, absolutely drenched after I lost my footing and took a tumble into the stream. Alone, and not willing to drive home wet, I was committed to finishing the hike, I came out of the stream to “lick my wounds” so to speak, when I found the most peculiar rock. This rock, which looked as if it was shaped by very abrasive winds and water made the most perfect seat. wet, I stood their for a moment, chuckled and could help but thank my heavenly father wonderful playful sense of humor.

In fished the hike, took some incredible pictures and didn’t get eaten by a bear. So by all accounts it was a successful hike.

But on the 2 hour drive home, my heart went back to the moment at the stream. I was so touched by the passage of proverbs 4, and the priority that God placed on my heart in that moment.

It made me think about what flows out from the heart of God. Well I know humor does. Outside of this moment and seeing the news, I can only hope justice does as we collectively cry that he restores all things back to himself. I know tenderness does when I look at my son and daughters sleeping one last time before I go to bed. I know love does, when im sitting at the table working and jackies gives me a gentile kiss.

Proverbs 4:23 NASB95

Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.

Matthew 22:37

Its so clear that throughout scripture we see the heart is something of great importance. We see that the nurturing of the heart carries great value and the more in which it is neglected, the more it is inclined to sin nature.

So how do we guard our heart, if it carries so much importance?

1. The Nature of our Heart

The prophet Jeremiah believed that the human heart was fundamentally broken; “the heart of a human is deceitful above all, irreversibly sick, who can understand it.” He watched a whole generation turn away from God and start sacrificing their children as if it were a good thing.

This is why in the imagination of the Hebrew prophets, the only hope for humanity is the total renewal of the human heart. Moses predicted that if Israel was ever going to really love their God, their lev would need to be “circumcised,”21 a surprising metaphor of removing the evil and stubbornness from the human heart. David, after murder and adultery, pleads with God to “create in me a pure heart.”22 Ezekiel hoped for a day when God would “remove the heart of stone” and give his people a “new heart of soft flesh.”23 This is similar to Jeremiah’s hope that God would write the commands of the Torah on the lev of His people.24

2. Recognize the treasure

When the characters in scripture talk about the heart, it’s important to understand in which regard they are holding to the heart.

Now, different cultures throughout history have had different conceptions of how the human body works, and this is also true of the ancient Israelite writers of the Bible. They knew the heart was an organ in the chest that sustains life; there’s even a heart attack mentioned in the Bible, like Nabal “whose heart died inside him, and he became like a stone.”

But the biblical authors talk about the heart in many other ways that may seem strange to modern readers. That’s because the Israelites had no concept of the brain or any word for it. So they imagined that all of a human’s intellectual activity takes place in the heart. For example, you know with your heart; your heart is where you understand and make connections.In the book of Proverbs, wisdom dwells in the heart, and your heart is what you use to discern between truth and error.

So the heart is where you think and make sense of the world, but it does more. In the Bible, the heart is also where you feel emotions. You feel pain in your heart, like Hannah did when she couldn’t have children. In fact, the phrase “a broken heart” comes from biblical Hebrew. You also experience fear in your heart; it can actually melt or be distressed. Your heart can even be depressed.

But on the flip-side, your heart is where you experience joy. In Hebrew to be happy is to be “good of heart”or to have a “heart of joy.”

Our heart was given to us to as a mean in which we process the experiences of God. The popular saying is that our eyes are the window to the soul. If we look at scripture, I think our heart is or should be our window to God.

Caring for your heart.

Proverbs 23:26 NASB95

Give me your heart, my son, And let your eyes delight in my ways.

Conclusion