Movement Of The Heart

“The Mighty One, God the Lord, speaks and summons the earth from the rising of the sun to its setting. Out of Zion, the perfection of beauty, God shines forth. Our God comes; he does not keep silence; before him is a devouring fire, around him a mighty tempest. He calls to the heavens above and to the earth, that he may judge his people: "Gather to me my faithful ones, who made a covenant with me by sacrifice!" The heavens declare his righteousness, for God himself is judge! Selah "Hear, O my people, and I will speak; O Israel, I will testify against you. I am God, your God. Not for your sacrifices do I rebuke you; your burnt offerings are continually before me. I will not accept a bull from your house or goats from your folds. For every beast of the forest is mine, the cattle on a thousand hills. I know all the birds of the hills, and all that moves in the field is mine. "If I were hungry, I would not tell you, for the world and its fullness are mine. Do I eat the flesh of bulls or drink the blood of goats? Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving, and perform your vows to the Most High, and call upon me in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you shall glorify me." But to the wicked God says: "What right have you to recite my statutes or take my covenant on your lips? For you hate discipline, and you cast my words behind you. If you see a thief, you are pleased with him, and you keep company with adulterers. "You give your mouth free rein for evil, and your tongue frames deceit. You sit and speak against your brother; you slander your own mother's son. These things you have done, and I have been silent; you thought that I was one like yourself. But now I rebuke you and lay the charge before you. "Mark this, then, you who forget God, lest I tear you apart, and there be none to deliver! The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me; to one who orders his way rightly I will show the salvation of God!"”
‭‭Psalms‬ ‭50:1-23‬ ‭ESV‬‬
Why do we do what we do? Ever ask that question? I know as a parent that's a question that gets asked a zillion times as we raise our kids....WHY DID YOU DO THAT????
In life it's very easy to fall into the routine of doing things just because it is the thing to do. The church today isn't a lot different from the Israelites. They were doing there sacrifices as they were taught but  were falling into a trap of just "going  through the motions" without a thought of what God really wanted from them. God wasn't looking for a burnt offering because He was hungry. He was looking at the condition of their hearts and why they were doing what they were doing.
Same goes for us. He wants to see our hearts change. He wants us to come before Him with thankful hearts, ready to worship, wanting to serve and ready to give....but it all starts in the heart.
There's a song that has a line that says "if your heart isn't in it" and those words are so true in our walk with God. If our heart isn't in it, then God doesn't want it. Plain and simple. God wants us to be in relationship with Him and it starts with a movement of the heart. That only happens when we look to the cross and acknowledge what Jesus did for us. Taking our sinful hearts and exchanging them for new ones in order for us to be in a right relationship with God.
My prayer is that we all take time to examine our hearts and ask the question "why do I do what I do"

Jerry

Comments

Popular Posts