What’s In Your Heart?

“Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be acceptable and pleasing in Your sight…” Psalm 19:14 AMP

As we celebrate Valentine’s Day this week, there will be no shortage of valentine hearts being given out in schools, in offices, on television and even on social media. Most of the hearts received will contain sweet treats or chocolates that are pleasing to the palate or words that bring a smile to the face. I remember as an adolescent, there was always great excitement when it was time to distribute our little symbolic hearts to our classmates and friends. And even more delightful was enjoying the pleasures shared by others when we got a chance to open the hearts that we had received.

Valentine’s Day is a symbol of love, of giving, and of expressing heart-felt sentiments toward others. As children, we could not have ever understood what it would one day mean to give your heart to someone else or to open your heart to others – not only in romantic courtship but in friendships and sisterhoods and other relationships. However, as we mature and become more discerning in our knowledge and understanding of the implications of sharing our heart; we realize what even those seemingly trivial acts of sharing heart shaped candy boxes implies.

The word heart is one of the most often used words in scripture and carries with it varying and distinct meanings depending upon the text in which it is used. But one thing that we can be certain of is that there is immense importance attached to appreciating the frailty and the power of the heart of man (woman). Therefore, we are commanded in the Word of God to guard our hearts, for scripture says that “from it flows the issues of life”

Much of what we exhibit on a daily basis can be contributed to what we’ve allowed to enter into our hearts in years past. What we are sharing with others, the good, the bad and the ugly, is without a doubt the direct result of what we’ve allowed and received in our own hearts. The good news is that there is a heart cleansing agent identified as consecration by the Holy Spirit. If we continue to allow outside sources to blemish our heart without seeking God to cleanse us, then eventually the issues that flow from our heart will become stained and murky as well. It is for this reason that we must consecrate ourselves through devotion, through prayer and through obedience to the commands of God. Daily, petition God to cleanse your heart that you might display what is pleasing in His sight.

As David reflects on the works and the Word of God in this 19th Psalm, he does so with the sincere desire that the Lord might be pleased with those things that occupied his mind, his words and his heart.

So, the question this week is what’s in your heart? Just in case you are wondering, your issues began in your heart, they didn’t begin with the actions of others toward you, they began in YOUR heart!

Therefore, the issues that are flowing from your heart are being expressed in everything you do and say – every word, every act, every tweet, every post, every smirk, every sneer… all of it arises from the meditation of your heart.

What’s in your heart?

Now, let us pray, “Lord, let the meditation of our hearts be acceptable and pleasing in your sight”