Today, I will be sharing with us on the subject of the Heart. Now, don't be tempted to think that I am talking about your biological Heart that pumps blood. I am not a medical doctor, and this message is not about that. The Heart I am talking about here is your core, and at some point, or the other in our walk with God, there would always be need to put our Heart in the right perspective with God. What we do for God is beautiful, God loves them. But He is also much more particular about our Heart as well.

 

Download Podcast: THE ‘HEART’ OF THE MATTER

 

Uzzah was trying to steady the ark from falling down because the cart that was carrying it shook at some point. His intentions even though, good, violates the commandments of God. Uzzah was neither a priest or a Levite, but his intentions to save the ark from falling was judged by God. Much more than loving God, it is important that we are on the same page with God, especially when it comes to the matters of the Heart.

 

David said in Psalms 139:23-24, he said:

 

Search me, O God, and know my Heart;
Try me, and know my anxieties;
²⁴ And see if there is any wicked way in me,
And lead me in the way everlasting.

 

At some point in our walk with God, we must go to God for some Heart searching or evaluations. The reason is because it is only God that knows the Heart of men, and no one else does. It is only God who knows the thoughts and intents of the Heart of man (Hebrews 4:12), and it is only Him who could do the thorough searching. In Jeremiah 17:9-10, prophet Jeremiah said something related to this also. He said:

 

“The Heart is deceitful above all things,
And desperately wicked;
Who can know it?
¹⁰ I, the Lord, search the Heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give every man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his doings.

 

So, can we now see the correlation between David’s prayers and what Jeremiah wrote? The Lord knows the Heart of men, he knows what is in the mind of men. The best a fellow human could see is the physical appearance. But a man is not his physical appearance, a man is actually what is in the Heart. The ‘Yoruba(s)’ have an adage that says “inu nii eniyan wa” which is loosely translated as “the Heart of man is who they really are.” So, the issues of the Heart are not something we can leave to chance. We must constantly go back to God for evaluations and re-evaluations, as long as we live.

 

The Dangers of Letting Our Guards Down

Guards in the context of this topic isn’t referring to our home security guards. To let your guards down simply means to become less defensive. I believe those in the game of football would understand this better. To be on guard is to be in the defensive state. As believers, there is something that God admonished us to guard diligently if we are not going to let our guards down. And what is that thing? It is our HEART! In Proverbs 4:20-27 (NIV), the Bible says:

 

My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
²¹ Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your Heart;
²² for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
²³ Above all else, guard your Heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
²⁴ Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
²⁶ Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
²⁷ Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.

 

The believer by every means, is admonished to continually guard the Heart. Why? Because many things contend for our Hearts. Anything that has the capacity to get your Heart, has the capacity to get every other part of you.

 

A believer letting his or her guards down, usually begins from the Heart. If you read Matthew 15:19, Jesus said: “For out of the Heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies. ²⁰ These are the things which defile a man, but to eat with unwashed hands does not defile a man.” Every desires and thoughts, emanates from the Heart, and a believer who will fall away, would have fallen first in his or her Heart. In Genesis 6:5, the Bible says “then the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his Heart was only evil continually.” Did you see that? Man was not capable of being evil externally, without first being evil internally.

 

Every action we see in the body emanates first from the Heart. If you read Proverbs 6:12-14, the Bible tells us Something about a wicked man. It says: “A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth; He winks with his eyes, he shuffles his feet, he points with his fingers; perversity is in his Heart, he devises evil continually, He sows discord.” Did we see that? Every physical action we saw with that wicked man started from his Heart. So, we can see that letting our guards down as believers actually starts from the Heart, and Proverbs 4:24-27 gave us what we must do in other to avoid losing our guard. It says: “Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. ²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. ²⁶ Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. ²⁷ Do not turn to the right or the left; Remove your foot from evil.”

 

The Heart of the Matter

Like the saying goes: "Anything that has to do with the Heart is the Heart of the matter." 1 John 3:19-21 says: "And by this we know that we are of the truth, and shall assure our Hearts before Him. For if our Heart condemns us, God is greater than our Heart, and knows all things. Beloved, if our Heart does not condemn us, we have confidence toward God." Whatever that you do that brings about condemnation from your Heart, is a pointer to the fact that something is already wrong.

 

The Heart of the matter is that you have a pure Heart towards God, even as you walk with Him. Psalms 24:3-4 tells us: "Who may ascend into the hill of the Lord? Or who may stand in His holy place? He who has clean hands and a pure Heart, who has not lifted up his soul to an idol, nor sworn deceitfully."

 

1 Timothy 1:5 says: "Now the purpose of the commandment is love from a pure Heart, from a good conscience, and from sincere faith." One of the difficult things to do is serving God with a deceitful Heart. The reason is because God sees much more beyond the surface, the activities. God sees the Heart. Proverbs 24:12 says: "If you say, “Surely, we did not know this,” Does not He who weighs the Hearts consider it? He who keeps your soul, does He not know it? And will He not render to each man according to his deeds?"

 

Why Is God So Keen About the Heart?

1. The Heart is the seat of purpose. Without the right Heart, carrying the purpose of God would be thwarted. 2 Corinthians 9:7 tells us: So, let each one give as he purposes in his Heart, not grudgingly or of necessity; for God loves a cheerful giver.”  This was the issue king Saul had. He didn’t anoint himself king, God did. But however, because his Heart was not right before God, he could not carry the purpose of God to the letter.

 

God is looking for people whose Heart long after Him and nothing else. He said when He found David, “I have found David, a man after mine Heart.” Now, was it because David was perfect before God and then God found him? The answer is definitely, no! Acts 13:22 gave us a perfect picture why God made that statement. It says: “And when He had removed him, He raised up for them David as king, to whom also He gave testimony and said, ‘I have found David the son of Jesse, a man after My own Heart, who will do all My will.’”

 

David was not perfect, but God sure knew that David would execute His will, His counsel and His purpose any day and any time. Even though he had his own shortcomings and all of that, but when it is time to fulfill the purpose of God, he would go all out to do it. No wonder Jesus said “you shall love the Lord your God with all your Heart, with all your soul, and with all your mind” (Matthew 22:37).

 

2. It takes a Heart that is longing after God to carry the Spirit of God. Without having the right Heart, this will become impossible. Ezekiel 36:26-27 says: “I will give you a new Heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the Heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a Heart of flesh. ²⁷ I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

 

 I believe you have been blessed!

Thanks for the gift of your time, I am Obayomi Abiola Benjamin!

Feel free to share your thoughts or testimony in the comment box below. I promise to respond to them as soon as possible!