The things that most people are curious about when it comes to God, have to do with the stuff that we do. “What do I have to do to be saved?”, “How much do I have to be at church?”, “Is that really a sin?”, “But is it a big deal sin, or a little unimportant sin?”.
“Who am I allowed to hang out with?”, “What am I allowed to do for fun?”, “How much am I supposed to pray?”, “How much am I supposed to read my bible?”, “Is it ok to wait to forgive someone until I feel like it?”, “Are there clothes I’m supposed to wear, or a certain hairstyle?”
It’s like the only way we know how to define stuff is by what we do. And while the stuff we do is important, when we focus on that alone, it’s backwards. Because to God, it’s not so much about the things we do. It’s about who we really are.
The things we do are just a symptom of what is living in our hearts.
Luke 6:45
45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
I can tell what’s in my heart by what I do.
But as we’re looking at that, it’s important to not get consumed by the symptom. If I’m sick, and I only treat the symptoms, I may be more comfortable, but I’m not treating the sickness. Tylenol doesn’t heal, it only covers up the sickness so that I don’t notice it as much.
If I want to heal I need real medicine, some sort of antibiotic or an antiviral. Those things attack the sickness, and once the sickness is dealt with, the symptoms disappear.
It’s no different with our hearts. If we’re only focused on the things we do, and that’s our only focus, it’s gonna take forever to change the truth of who we are inside. And the heart issues that need to be dealt with will get forgotten as we only focus on the symptoms that can’t go away until the sickness in our hearts is revealed and handed over to Jesus for Him to heal.
God is after our hearts. And the only Healer capable of dealing with what’s in our hearts is Jesus. He doesn’t need us to just try and look the part of one of His followers. He doesn’t need us to do things to earn His favor. He just wants us to hold our hearts open to Him, so that He can heal them and set them free.
The rest of it will follow if we can just let Jesus clean up our hearts.
“Who am I allowed to hang out with?”, “What am I allowed to do for fun?”, “How much am I supposed to pray?”, “How much am I supposed to read my bible?”, “Is it ok to wait to forgive someone until I feel like it?”, “Are there clothes I’m supposed to wear, or a certain hairstyle?”
It’s like the only way we know how to define stuff is by what we do. And while the stuff we do is important, when we focus on that alone, it’s backwards. Because to God, it’s not so much about the things we do. It’s about who we really are.
The things we do are just a symptom of what is living in our hearts.
Luke 6:45
45 The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of his heart his mouth speaks.
I can tell what’s in my heart by what I do.
But as we’re looking at that, it’s important to not get consumed by the symptom. If I’m sick, and I only treat the symptoms, I may be more comfortable, but I’m not treating the sickness. Tylenol doesn’t heal, it only covers up the sickness so that I don’t notice it as much.
If I want to heal I need real medicine, some sort of antibiotic or an antiviral. Those things attack the sickness, and once the sickness is dealt with, the symptoms disappear.
It’s no different with our hearts. If we’re only focused on the things we do, and that’s our only focus, it’s gonna take forever to change the truth of who we are inside. And the heart issues that need to be dealt with will get forgotten as we only focus on the symptoms that can’t go away until the sickness in our hearts is revealed and handed over to Jesus for Him to heal.
God is after our hearts. And the only Healer capable of dealing with what’s in our hearts is Jesus. He doesn’t need us to just try and look the part of one of His followers. He doesn’t need us to do things to earn His favor. He just wants us to hold our hearts open to Him, so that He can heal them and set them free.
The rest of it will follow if we can just let Jesus clean up our hearts.
