The heart is a subject that is so very critical to the life of the Christ follower. Pretty much everything important to a healthy life both here on Earth and in the Eternal Kingdom involves the heart. That may sound a bit exaggerated, but I think after we have a look at what God says about the heart in his Word, you'll soon see that maybe we haven't paid enough attention to this vitally important matter- The Heart Matters!
Its not especially clever to point out that you can read that phrase at least two different ways, depending on where you place the emphasis. If I say it with emphasis on the word Heart, It sounds like this: The HEART Matters; and you would assume I'm going to talk about the subject of the Heart.
If on the other hand, I emphasize the word Matters, it sounds like this: The Heart MATTERS. Then you would think I was going to speak about how very important the Heart is.
So which is it?.... Both!
We're going to see what God says about the heart in His Word- What exactly is the heart, what wneed to do to take care of it, etc... and then we'll look at the importance of the heart in the life of the believer and the role the believer plays is caring for the heart and how a healthy heart impacts every area of our lives. I'm going to run through a bunch of scriptures tonight rather quickly. We'll be zooming in on a couple important scriptures, so hang in there with me!
One hospital I worked at had just gotten a new CAT Scan machine. One of the capabilities was to perform special heart scans. We offered a particular scan that you could come in and get without a doctors order called a Heart Check. It was a fairly fast scan of the heart designed to assess heart attack risk. I was able to be a 'Guinea Pig' when we were testing the new machine. Specifically, this test is looking for calcium in the main vessels of the heart. Mine checked out fine!The pictures looked something like this:
The Heart Scan shows areas where there is calcification or Hardness! Those calcifications block blood flow to the heart in essence causing heart attack. I think the parallel is kind of obvious!
Let's start by looking at how the Bible defines the heart:
HEART—the inner self that thinks, feels, and decides.
In the Bible the word heart has a much broader meaning than it does to the modern mind!
The heart is that which is central to a person. Nearly all the references to the heart in the Bible refer to some aspect of human personality.
In the Bible all emotions are experienced by the heart:
love and hate (Ps. 105:25; 1 Pet. 1:22);
Psalm 105:25 He turned their hearts to hate his people,to deal craftily with his servants.
1 Peter 1:22 Having purified your souls by your obedience to the truth for a sincere brotherly love, love one another earnestly from a pure heart,
joy and sorrow (Eccl. 2:10; John 16:6);
Ecclesiastes 2:10 And whatever my eyes desired I did not keep from them. I kept my heart from no pleasure, for my heart found pleasure in all my toil, and this was my reward for all my toil.
John 16:6 But because I have said these things to you, sorrow has filled your heart.
peace and bitterness (Ezek. 27:31; Col. 3:15);
Ezekiel 27:31 They will shave themselves completely bald because of you,Gird themselves with sackcloth,And weep for you with bitterness of heart and bitter wailing.
Colossians 3:15 And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful.
courage and fear (Gen. 42:28; Amos 2:16).
Gen- 'their hearts sank'
Amos-'stout of heart'
The thinking processes of man are said to be carried out by the heart.
This intellectual activity corresponds to what would be called mind in English.
Thus, the heart may :
think (Esth. 6:6),
understand (Job 38:36),
imagine (Jer. 9:14),
remember (Deut. 4:9),
be wise (Prov. 2:10),
and speak to itself (Deut. 7:17).
Decision-making is also carried out by the heart.
Purpose (Acts 11:23),
intention (Heb. 4:12),
and will (Eph. 6:6) are all activities of the heart.
Finally, heart often means someone’s true character or personality.
Purity or evil (Jer. 3:17; Matt. 5:8);
sincerity or hardness (Ex. 4:21; Col. 3:22); and maturity or rebelliousness (Ps. 101:2;
Jer. 5:23)—all these describe the heart or true character of individuals.
God knows the heart of each person
1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Since a person speaks and acts from his heart, he is to guard it well.
Proverbs 4:23 Keep your heart with all diligence,For out of it spring the issues of life.
The most important duty of man is to love God with the whole heart!
Matthew 22:37 And he said to him, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.
With the heart man believes in Christ and so experiences both love from God and the presence of Christ in his heart (Rom. 5:5; 10:9-10; Eph. 3:17).
Romans 5:5 ...and hope does not put us to shame, because God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit who has been given to us.
Romans 10:9-10 ...because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in yo heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved.
So, how's your heart? Ready for a heart scan?
Benediction
(A prayer of Blessing- Ephesians 3)
Ephesians 3:14-19 When I think of all this, I fall to my knees and pray to the Father, the Creator of everything in heaven and on earth. I pray that from his glorious, unlimited resources he will empower you with inner strength through his Spirit. Then Christ will make his home in your hearts as you trust in him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And may you have the power to understand, as all God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep his love is. May you experience the love of Christ, though it is too great to understand fully. Then you will be made complete with all the fullness of life and power that comes from God. Amen!
