The Heart...Above All Else

The majority of references to the heart in Scripture has to do with the basic human nature of man.  As in Gen. 6:5 and 8:21, the heart is considered to be the seat of sin.  Nouwen states that the heart is “…the place to which Satan directs his fiercest attacks (Nouwen, 1999, p. 77).”  However, the heart is also noted to be the place where God dwells and works to bring about renewal (Jer. 31:33; Ps. 51:10).

When David was passing the baton to Solomon, he said to him, “And you, my son Solomon, acknowledge the God of your father, and serve him with wholehearted devotion...for the Lord searches every heart and understands every motive behind the thoughts.  If you seek him, He will be found by you; but if you forsake Him, He will reject you forever (I Chron. 28:9-10).”  Later, Solomon expressed his own understanding of the importance of the heart when he would write, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life (Prov. 4:23).”  I prefer the rendering in the King James Version, “out of it are the issues of life.”

Nearly every struggle imaginable can be traced to its roots in something that is wrong with the heart.  Couples in conflict, parents with out-of-control youngsters, adults struggling with self-esteem, depression, or anxiety, and individuals dealing with a particular behavior that is ruining their lives, all have something to do with issues of the heart.  In the same way, what keeps us from experiencing the abundant life that Jesus promised is also a matter of our heart.

The cure is to work towards a total devotion of our hearts to God, a commitment that most of us are not willing to make.  The fact that the Lord searches our hearts suggests that we should ask Him to help us appreciate what needs to change about our hearts so that we are able and willing to do this.  We need to be diligent in our pursuit, willing to do whatever it takes to surrender our hearts to Him and His will for us.  David writes, “Take delight in the Lord (total devotion), and He will give you the desires of your heart (Ps. 37:3).”