As we we’re driving down our gravel road on the way to church tonight, we passed a house that has an American flag on their flagpole. The wind has been so strong lately that the flag has now seen better days. It’s gotten tattered and torn. This led to the conversation of how you dispose of a worn-out flag. You burn them! You can dishonor the flag in the same way – by burning it! So, why is it wrong to burn the flag in one instance and right to do it in the other? The answer is – It all depends on what’s in your heart!
Why is the heart important? When Saul sinned against the Lord, “the Lord sought Him a man after his own heart” to be the next king of Israel. (I Samuel 13:14) God told Samuel regarding Eliab, “Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the Lord seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart.” Hence, He found David, whom He called a “man after Mine own heart.” (Acts 13:22) Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things and exceedingly corrupt: who can know it? I, the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10) How would God find your heart? Are you doing things for the right reasons? Are you guilty of cleansing the outside of the cup and platter, but not cleansing the inside like the Pharisees? (Matthew 23:25)
The Word of God is what convicts us of sin. It is “quick, and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing even to the dividing asunder of soul and spirit and of the joints and marrow, and is a discerner of the thoughts and intents of the heart. (Hebrews 4:12) May our hearts cause us to do things for the right reasons. God Bless, Courtney
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