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Getting to the Heart of the Matter

September 25, 2018

Mark 7:17-23

17 After he had left the crowd and entered the house, his disciples asked him about this parable. 18 “Are you so dull?” he asked. “Don’t you see that nothing that enters a person from the outside can defile them? 19 For it doesn’t go into their heart but into their stomach, and then out of the body.” (In saying this, Jesus declared all foods clean.)

20 He went on: “What comes out of a person is what defiles them. 21 For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come—sexual immorality, theft, murder,22 adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. 23 All these evils come from inside and defile a person.”

CONSIDER THIS

105. Scripture uses the term “heart” some eight hundred times yet never to refer to the physical organ that pumps blood through the body. The point is to demonstrate the essential, volitional, willful core of a human person. It’s what matters most. This is what is broken about our human condition. This is the focus of the Holy Spirit in the work of restoring us to the image of God. Recall Paul’s prayer in his letter to the Ephesians:

I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, 19 and his incomparably great power for us who believe. Ephesians 1:18-19. 

106. Jesus brings laser like focus to the heart. Remember in the Sermon on the Mount (aka the Kingdom Manifesto) when he said, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God”? He spoke of murder as beginning with nursing anger in one’s heart and adultery as harboring lust in one’s heart.

In today’s text, he cuts to the “heart” of the matter of human brokenness when he says:

For it is from within, out of a person’s heart, that evil thoughts come

It’s why the Proverbs speak so often of the heart with words like,

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23.

Back in the days of the Wesleys the classic question of those in fellowship with each other was, “How is it with your soul?” Today we might more commonly hear, “How’s your heart?”

Remember the words of the Psalmist, who put it so succinctly:

Who may ascend the mountain of the Lord? Who may stand in his holy place? The one who has clean hands and a pure heart, who does not trust in an idol or swear by a false god. Psalm 24:3-4.

By the pen of Jeremiah, the Holy Spirit issues this stern warning,

The heart is deceitful above all things
    and beyond cure.
    Who can understand it?
“I the Lord search the heart
    and examine the mind,
to reward each person according to their conduct,
    according to what their deeds deserve.”

107. I’ll close today with one of the great prayers from the Book of Common Prayer. It’s called the “Collect for Purity.” I’d encourage you to commit this one to memory and pray it regularly.

Almighty God, to you all hearts are open, all desires known and from you no secrets are hid. Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts by the inspiration of your Holy Spirit that we may perfectly love you and worthily magnify your holy name, through Jesus Christ our Lord, Amen.

Note the prayer’s honesty with respect to sin. Even more so, look at the sheer audacity of the request—to perfectly love God. Wow!

Cleanse the thoughts of our hearts, Lord. Yes, cleanse the thoughts of our hearts.

THE PRAYER

Spirit of the Living God, fall afresh on me. Lord Jesus, guard my heart. Rob me of my anxiety and teach me to live completely open-hearted to you. I want to have a pure heart. Melt me. Mold me. Fill me. Use me. For the glory of your name, Jesus. Amen.

THE QUESTION

How is your heart? Pure? Cloudy? Anxious? Joyful? Troubled? Peaceful? How can you stay in touch with the state of your heart?

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For the Awakening,
J.D. Walt
Sower-in-Chief
seedbed.com

Get my latest book, THE DOMINO EFFECT.
I write every day at THE SEEDBED DAILY TEXT.

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WHAT IS THIS? Wake-Up Call is a daily encouragement to shake off the slumber of our busy lives and turn our eyes toward Jesus. Each morning our community gathers around a Scripture, a reflection, a prayer, and a few short questions, inviting us to reorient our lives around the love of Jesus that transforms our hearts, homes, churches, and cities.

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