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Is God’s word written on your heart?
Because God’s laws are for our good (Deuteronomy 10:13)
we need to write them on our heart. A Bible on our bookshelf is
not enough, or even in the memory of our phone. To guide us
spiritually, God’s word must be in our heart.
What does it mean to have God’s word in your heart?
God’s word dwells within you and is the guiding force of your
life: you know it, understand it, respect it, love it and practice it
willingly.
Old Covenant people were to have God’s word in their heart.
“You shall love the LORD your God with all your heart, with
all your soul, and with all your might. And these words which I
command you today shall be in your heart; you shall teach them
diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in
your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and
when you rise up” (Deuteronomy 6:5-7). To do this we must
know God’s word.
“You shall lay up these words of mine in your heart and in
your soul” (Deuteronomy 11:18). We store valuable data
carefully. Do we store God’s word in our heart and soul?
“For this commandment which I command you today, it is
not too mysterious for you, nor is it far off. It is not in heaven,
that you should say, ‘Who will ascend into heaven for us and
bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ Nor is it beyond the
sea, that you should say, ‘Who will go over the sea for us and
bring it to us, that we may hear it and do it?’ But the word is very
near you, in your mouth and in your heart, that you may do it”
(Deuteronomy 30:11-14). If God’s word is in our heart, it will also
be in our mouth. What does a football fan talk about? Football!
Someone with God’s word in his heart, speaks about God’s word.
“The mouth of the righteous speaks wisdom, and his tongue
talks of justice. The law of his God is in his heart” (Psalm 37:30,
31).
“Your word I have hidden in my heart, that I might not sin
against You” (Psalm 119:11). When God’s word is in our heart,
we know what pleases and displeases Him, and we want to please
Him.
“My son, keep my words, and treasure my commands within
you. Keep my commands and live, and my law as the apple of
your eye. Bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of
your heart” (Proverbs 7:1-3).
God’s people were told repeatedly to write His word on their
heart, but most did not do so.
Few under the Old Covenant had God’s law in their heart.
Although God sent prophets to call them to repentance,
although the faithful encouraged their unfaithful brethren to know
the Lord, few of the physical descendants of Jacob had God’s law
in their hearts.
Thus God proclaimed: “‘Behold, the days are coming,’ says
the LORD, ‘when I will make a new covenant with the house of
Israel and with the house of Judah, not according to the covenant
that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the
hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt, My covenant which
they broke, though I was a husband to them,’ says the LORD.
‘But this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel:
After those days, says the LORD, I will put My law in their minds,
and write it on their hearts; and I will be their God, and they shall
be My people. No more shall every man teach his neighbor, and
every man his brother, saying, “Know the LORD,” for they all
shall know Me, from the least of them to the greatest of them,’
says the LORD. ‘For I will forgive their iniquity, and their sin I will
remember no more’” (Jeremiah 31:31-34).
New Covenant people have God’s law in their heart.
This prophesy was fulfilled by Jesus Christ who came to
bring God’s New Covenant for the whole world, founded on
personal faith rather than physical descent, and to be the true
sacrifice for sin: “For by one offering He has perfected forever
those who are being sanctified. And the Holy Spirit also witnesses
to us; for after He had said before, ‘This is the covenant that I will
make with them after those days, says the Lord: I will put My
laws into their hearts, and in their minds I will write them,’ then
He adds, ‘Their sins and their lawless deeds I will remember no
more’” (Hebrews 10:14-17). [See also Hebrews 8:10-12.]
Christ had God’s law in His heart: “Then I said, ‘Behold, I
come; In the scroll of the Book it is written of me. I delight to do
Your will, O my God, and Your law is within my heart’” (Psalm
40:7, 8).
Because Jesus was sinless, He was qualified to bear the
punishment for our sins, and to replace the Old Covenant with the
New: “For He made Him who knew no sin to be sin for us, that we
might become the righteousness of God in Him” (2 Corinthians
5:21).
Under the New Covenant, by definition, God’s people consist
of those who have God’s law in their heart: “For Christ is the end
of the law for righteousness to everyone who believes. For Moses
writes about the righteousness which is of the law, ‘The man who
does those things shall live by them.’ But the righteousness of
faith speaks in this way, ‘Do not say in your heart, “Who will
ascend into heaven?”’ (that is, to bring Christ down from above)
or, ‘“Who will descend into the abyss?”’ (that is, to bring Christ up
from the dead). But what does it say? ‘The word is near you,
even in your mouth and in your heart’ (that is, the word of faith
which we preach)” (Romans 10:4-8).
How can we have God’s law in our heart?
We must prepare our hearts to receive the word. In the
parable of the sower, God’s word bears fruit only in good and
noble hearts (Luke 8:15).
Of King Rehoboam it is said: “And he did evil, because he did
not prepare his heart to seek the LORD” (2 Chronicles 12:14).
Ezra, on the other hand, “had prepared his heart to seek the
Law of the LORD, and to do it” (Ezra 7:10).
Our hearts must be receptive. God told Ezekiel: “Son of
man, receive into your heart all My words that I speak to you,
and hear with your ears” (Ezekiel 3:10).
The word of God must be received: “Therefore lay aside all
filthiness and overflow of wickedness, and receive with meekness
the implanted word, which is able to save your souls” (James
1:21).
It is not enough to attend religious services each Sunday.
The law of God must be written on our hearts. Paul told the
believers at Corinth that they were a letter of Christ, “written not
with ink but by the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone
but on tablets of flesh, that is, of the heart” (2 Corinthians 3:2,
3).
When God’s law is written on our hearts, it permeates our
whole being: it influences our thoughts, words and actions.
Bad things may not be written on our heart.
Our degenerate society is always ready to write its godless
opinions and materialistic principles on our hearts. How is this
done? Mainly through the media, schools and social contacts.
To have God’s law written on our hearts, bad influences
must be avoided and resisted. We must be careful what we read,
what we watch, what we listen to. We must be careful who our
friends are: “Do not be deceived: ‘Bad company ruins good
morals’” (1 Corinthians 15:33 ESV).
We must also be careful who our virtual friends are. People
in films can easily influence the way we think and feel. Even the
“good guys” are often rather bad. Much of this evil influence is
insidious. Immorality, for example, is presented on television, in
films and at school as normal, acceptable behavior, and is falsely
portrayed as having no bad consequences. This is inspired by the
devil.
What if someone rang your doorbell each evening, came in
and spent the whole evening in your home using worldly
language and showing indecent pictures to your children?
As a Christian, would you not show him the door and tell him
he was not welcome? Yet, many Christians welcome such a visitor
into their home each day. His initials are T.V.
The Internet is also an enticing source of evil influence.
“Can a man take fire to his bosom, and his clothes not be
burned?” (Proverbs 6:27). If we eat garbage, we get sick. If we
fill our mind with garbage, we will have a sick mind. If we look at
pornography, we will develop a pornographic mind. If we fill our
heart with vanity, our life will be in vain.
On the other hand, if we fill our hearts with the word of God,
we will be healthy and strong spiritually. Let us rededicate our
hearts to God.
Time is required to write God’s word on our heart.
If God’s word is in our heart it will also be at the heart of our
day. We must redeem the time because the days are evil
(Ephesians 5:16; Colossians 4:5). This means that we must
spend our time profitably.
Most of our day is unavoidably occupied with routine chores.
Only a small part can be spent any way we wish. How do we use
this prime time? Absorbing God’s word? Or do we waste it in
self-indulgence?
To allow God to write His word on our hearts we must attend
services and Bible studies regularly. We need to read the Bible or
listen to Bible recordings each day. If our daily schedule does not
allow this, maybe we ought to rearrange our schedule. We might
also dedicate larger blocks of time on certain days to taking God’s
word into our hearts.
“Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly” (Colossians 3:16).
May the word of God permeate our hearts to provide
spiritual guidance for our lives. May God’s word be in our
conversation. Let us teach His word to our children, talk of it
when we are at home, when we ride in the car, when we lie
down, and when we rise up. Let us write the commands of God
on the tablet of our heart. Only then may we call ourselves the
people of God. Amen.
Roy Davison
The Scripture quotations in this article are from
The New King James Version. ©1979,1980,1982, Thomas Nelson Inc.,
Publishers unless indicated otherwise.
Permission for reference use has been granted.
Published in The Old Paths Archive
http://www.oldpaths.com
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