Anyone who advocates listening to his/her heart either has not read the Bible or doesn’t believe God’s Word. Both the Old and New Testaments have much to say regarding the heart. For example, Jeremiah 17:9 warns, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Our concern should not be about WHAT divides people but rather WHO causes the division between humans and God. Satan has been in enmity with God ever since the Garden of Eden.

The Bible has given us the answers to all the important questions of life. Our heart is a leaky vessel and we’re prone to believe the wrong things. Our heart problem is sin. Romans 10:13-14 states, “For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved. How then shall they call upon him in whom they have not believed? And how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? And how shall they hear without a preacher?”

Isaiah 26:3 says, “Thou wilt keep him in perfect peace, whose mind is stayed on thee: because he trusteth in thee.” We have all the power to overcome, but we must love God more than sinful behavior.

So how do we prepare our hearts to seek and harken unto God? Remember that God made us to be primarily holy, not happy. We need a daily plan which should include meditating day and night with our focus upon God. In order to do this, we need a sound mind. 2 Tim 2: 15 says, “Study to shew thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the word of truth.”

And James 4:8 admonishes us to “Draw nigh to God, and he will draw nigh to you. Cleanse your hands, ye sinners; and purify your hearts, ye double minded.”

A right heart is one of obedience. We’re told in 1 Samuel 16:7-13 how God told Samuel to go to the house of Jesse in Bethlehem to anoint Israel’s next king. Samuel was impressed with Jesse’s oldest son, Eliab. But God told Samuel not to look at one’s outward appearance. God knows a person’s heart. God rejected all seven of Jesse’s older sons. But his youngest son, David, was out tending sheep. Still the Lord said, “Arise, anoint him: for this is he.” (See verse 12.) Although imperfect, David was faithful, i.e., a man after God’s heart.

Marilyn Sager

Houghton