There can be no dispute that there are many worrisome and troubling things in the world today. It seems as though everything is vying for our attention and care and every message from the media is designed to incite panic and fear in the listener.
My friends, the Bible makes it clear that the one thing we are to be careful about and to guard is our heart. And if it seems like today that your heart may be getting weighed down with the cares of life, then this message is for you today.
So some of you may be asking “Why is the heart so important?”. Well to Christ, and to us as His followers and friends, the thing that is most important is not ritual, nor is it even servitude, but it is relationship. It has become somewhat of a motto in certain circles that Christianity is not religion, but relationship. And while that slogan does not necessarily convey the details, it is essentially true.
You see, God cares about you, He loves you, and whatever He reveals to us is not so much for His benefit but for ours. In several places in scripture and by Jesus Christ Himself in a few areas, the importance of the heart is made known. Let us take a look at two examples, one in the Old Testament, and one from the New Testament. First take a look at Proverbs 4:23:
“Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
We see here one very good reason for guarding our heart, and that is because life flows from it. If your heart is sick or burdened by worry, so too will the rest of you be. This is common sense and not something that is hard at all to understand.
Now let’s look at Matthew 6:31-34:
“Therefore take no thought, saying, What will we eat? or, What will we drink? or, Wherewithal will we be clothed?
(For after all these things do the Gentiles seek:) for your heavenly Father knows that you have need of all these things.
But seek you first the kingdom of God, and his righteousness; and all these things will be added to you.
Take therefore no thought for the morrow: for the morrow will take thought for the things of itself. Sufficient to the day is the evil thereof.”
Jesus spoke these words, and others in prior verses about taking “no thought” or no worry or cares for any of the aspects of life. Now this is more than a mere care-free positive-thinking idea that Jesus is speaking of, but more accurately, it is that we can be free of care and worry because our Father in Heaven knows our cares and loves us. So here we have the reason why we can be free of such burdens.
Now what does all this have to do with relationship? Well my friends, it would be reasonable to say that in order for us to actually live the life that Jesus was describing, we would have to trust Him first. And we would have to know Him before we could adequately trust Him.
It all comes back to relationships. God does not care about how much we serve Him, although service is good. He does not care about how religiously devoted we are, although devotion is good. He does not care about the good works we do, although good works are meaningful. What He cares about is our heart and if we actually know Him. See, the other things: service, devotion, good works, are all by-products… they are fruits of a right relationship with God the Father through Jesus Christ, but they are not the root of such a life. None of these other things can produce true love, only knowing Him and His goodness can do that.
Which brings us to the main question: How can we know Him and guard our heart?
The question is phrased this way because the answer is the same for both things. By reading about Him and spending time with Him. How would you cultivate a personal relationship with someone else? You would spend time with them and write and read letters to each other. The same is true with our Father and Heaven. The Bible is His love letter to us, everything about it is designed to show us pictures of Jesus from every angle.
Now I know when I talk about reading the Bible, some of you feel discouraged because you think that the Bible is difficult to read, and that’s okay. This is why God appointed pastors preachers and teachers, to help you see Jesus and gain experience to begin to see Him for yourself in the Bible also. And if you are listening to me today or reading this on the website and your church is not showing you the loveliness of Jesus, I urge you to find a church that is.
Now one of the beauties of God is that we do not have to write Him a letter, He can hear and see you wherever you are, there is no distance to prayer… and that’s what prayer is, communication with God. I would encourage you today to begin to cultivate the most important relationship you will ever enter into. Begin to know God, talk to Him, tell Him that you want to know Him, or to know Him better, and seek out a church that teaches you about Jesus and His Goodness, because nothing else will ever satisfy.
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