GIVING OUR HEARTS TO GOD

There’s an interesting statement made in 2 Chronicles 11 that got me thinking about my commitment to God. In the sixteenth verse, it talks about those of the tribes of Israel who “set their heart to seek the Lord God of Israel.” Three words in particular caught my attention.

The word “set” pointed out the commitment they were making to the Lord. Their “heart” focused their mind on carrying out that commitment. And “seek” was their striving after what the Lord would have them to do. Or as we find from Ezra, he “prepared his heart to seek the Law of the Lord, and to do it” (Ezra 7:10). Which brings me to some thoughts on how to have such a heart.

In David’s prayer to God in Psalm 51, he seeks a “clean” (vs. 10) and “contrite” (vs. 17) heart, a heart of purity and humility committed to living for the Lord. Solomon instructs us in Proverbs 3:5 to “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and lean not on your own understanding,” setting His will as the focus of our lives. And, as Jesus told the scribe in regards to which is the first commandment of all, “And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart, with all your soul, with all your mind, and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30), which encompasses setting one’s heart to seek the Lord.

May we take heart to the commitment expressed by those Israelites and Ezra, and do our best to prepare our own hearts by seeking God and doing His will to the best of our ability, for it is with such commitment we will one day be rewarded with an eternal inheritance (1 Peter 1:4).