We've talked about the issues of the heart recently. Jesus warned that our sin problem is a problem of the heart (Matt 12:34-35; Matt 15:17-20). We often think in other terms. We think, for instance, about orthopraxy ... right living. There are things we're supposed to do. Or maybe you lean toward orthodoxy ... right thinking--the truth. These are things we can and should address, but the real problem, according to Scripture, is the heart. So Jesus said, "You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt 22:37). All ... your heart. No small command.
So, we can fix head problems with information and behavior problems with instructions in obedience, but how do we fix this fundamental heart problem? We can't. The heart is deceitful (Jer 17:9). The natural human is hostile to God (Rom 8:7). Jesus never said, "Try harder." He said, "You must be born again" (John 3:5-8). What we need is that "new heart" promised in Ezekiel (Ezek 36:26). And we need an ongoing "washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5). In Philippi, it was the Lord who opened Lydia's heart (Acts 16:14). You don't "fix" hearts. They have to be remade by God.
Our fundamental problem, then, is not that we do bad things. It's not that we're ill-informed. Our fundamental problem is the heart. You can't fix that with good information or positive behavior. It can only be fixed supernaturally and changed supernaturally (Gal 3:2-3). The change wrought by the Spirit is first evidenced in faith which is impossible before we are given new heart. The next is repentance, again only produced by the Spirit and exercised in us. Then it is a new desire, never before possible ... the desire to know and obey God. The easiest evidence of the heart condition is what you love. You see, "where your treasure is, there your heart will be also" (Matt 6:21). And after that the heart is shaped in an ongoing transformation (Rom 12:2) produced by "by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit" (Titus 3:5) and God's word (John 17:17). So ... sure ... seek to know Him more. Work to obey Him better. But, above all, "Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life" (Prov 4:23). What do you treasure? What influences are you allowing into your heart?
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