Heart Matters
Dear Faith Family,
Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting, (Psalm 139:23-24)!
“When you think it’s butter, but it’s not. It’s Chiffon.” Or, “Parkay”. (Insert here an actor lifting the lid to a margarine container.) “Butter”. Some of you may remember those tag lines. Others may have no idea what those words mean. A name you may not remember is Nu Maid margarine. Once upon a time (just before dirt was created) Nu Maid margarine came in colorful bowls. It was recycling before recycling was cool.
The empty bowls found themselves repurposed in many ways. I wonder how many boxes of cereal and how many gallons of milk served time in a Nu Maid margarine tub?! Even our dog named Towser got into the recycling gig. Our kitchen floor was adorned with a red margarine bowl. It served as distributer of Towser’s drinking water.
From time to time that created a bit of a problem. The colorful red margarine bowl and my dad’s foot competed for the same floor space. Dad found it necessary to repeatedly prove that two objects cannot occupy the same space at the same time! Like any good preacher / teacher, dad discovered yet another purpose for Nu Maid margarine bowls.
His discovery? When kicked, the only thing that ever came out of the dog’s water bowl (alias: Nu Maid margarine container; alias: sermon illustration) was what was already inside of that bowl. Trust me. Dad performed that experiment repeatedly with always the same result. Never a variant. Nothing other than water ever came out!
Ok. So, what’s the point? Proverbs 4:23 tells us to: Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. The idea is to keep watch over your heart. To guard your heart. But how do we accomplish that? Certainly, we need to be intentional with what we feed our hearts (what we put into our margarine bowls). And just what is your heart feeding on today?
King David knew his need for even more. Listen to his words: Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting!
Interesting that David didn’t simply ask God to search his actions and to put his behavior on trial. Instead, David asked God to take inventory of the engine room (the margarine bowl) because David knew that God was the One who alone could perform the necessary heart surgery. He knew that He needed help with his margarine bowl. Understanding the heart of your God can lead to the transformation of your heart. Relationship is the means for exposing your heart to His. Communication is the key to relationship.
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