A Matter of the Heart

Now, therefore, says the Lord Turn to Me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning. So rend your heart and not your garments; Return to the Lord your God, For He is gracious and merciful, Slow to anger and of great kindness; And He relents from doing harm. Joel 2:12-13

 

By this scripture we can clearly see that God is not satisfied with outward acts of repentance. Rending ones garment was a custom of the day; a custom that showed grief or remorse. However, people can go through all the ritualistic motions they want to and still not be truly repentant. And God knows this. That is why He is asking for a rending of their hearts. In Psalm 51 we read David's prayer of repentance. After acknowledging his sin as being against God he goes on to say in Psalm 51 10: "Create in me a clean heart, O God." David recognized that his sin was a heart issue, and that repentance could only come when the heart was changed. So how does a person change their heart? As believers we can turn from our sin, but more importantly, we need to get into the Word and have our minds renewed. Only then can real transformation take place. That is how we come to know what it is that pleases and displeases God. His thinking becomes our thinking. We can hear all the feel good messages we want to and never have a life changing transformation. They may go in one ear and out the other. But there's something about getting into the Word and reading it for ourselves...it's like a marvelous epiphany as the scriptures come alive. A light seems to shine on those things that aren't in line with God's views. As this happens, genuine repentance comes. Now, let me point out that in David's case he received a word from Nathan the prophet after he (David) had committed sin....in other words, a word from God. You can read that story in 2 Samuel if you'd like to investigate further. I assure you, it is well worth the read.

 

So what about those who aren't spending time reading the Bible? Those who are non believers? How can their heart be changed? Well, we all know that God is truly the only one who can change a heart. It is His kindness that draws men to repentance. So is there something we can do? We can seek the Lord with all our heart. The Bible tells us that when we seek, He will be found. So why not start seeking? Salvation comes from no other. Don't think that you are too bad and that there's no way God could ever forgive you. He did just that when He died on the cross. And don't think you have to get all cleaned up before you seek Him. God is the best launderer there is. He accepts you as you are. It kind of reminds me of when I would take my clothes to the dry cleaner. I know that's a silly example, but hey, it's what I've got...Anyway, I didn't clean the clothes before taking them, did I? Certainly not! That's their job, right? Well, in the same way it's God's job to clean us up when we turn to Him. A lot of people will hire a maid to come clean their home, but before she arrives you see them picking up, trying to straighten things up so they won't look so bad. Ha! That is not what God wants...I am reminded of an old hymn called Just As I Am. One of the verses says this:

 

Just as I am, thou wilt receive,
Wilt welcome, pardon, cleanse, relieve;
Because thy promise I believe,
O Lamb of God, I come, I come.

 

Okay, so in today's English that basically means that He will receive us just as we are. He welcomes us, pardons us, cleanses us, and relieves us of the responsibility for our own salvation. And what did it take?Belief in the promises of God. Believing that Jesus is who He said He is. The Son of God who came to die for our sins. Believing that He died on the cross in our place and that He rose again on the third day, and is now seated at the right hand of the Father. And because of His death and resurrection we are assured that we can one day be with Him in heaven. Not a shabby deal now is it? And the great thing about it is that we don't have to do all these things that other religions seem to think are necessary for salvation. When we are born again we will want to do good works, but we know that it is not the works that save us. Our salvation is found in Christ alone.