Heart Check

This time of year is a time of much activity - good activity. Ministries like ours are abuzz with various activities before the holiday break. In the midst of much activity I have been reminded both through Pastor Ford's messages out of Revelation 2 and through personal devotional time that we must be careful that in our work for the Lord we don't forget about the Lord of the work. In other words, our duties must flow out of our devotion. It is the Mary/Martha tension of being vs. doing. This has been an ongoing lesson and challenge for me in my 7 1/2 years here in Chicago as I like to pride myself on "staying busy." I wanted to share a devotional that spoke directly to this the other day and caused me to do a heart check in the midst of a busy month. Here it is...

"A Heart That Loves God" - taken out of Experiencing God by Henry & Richard Blackaby

No amount of activity for God will ever take the place of a heart that is right with Him. Through the ages God's people have been persuaded that they could please Him through their service and their offerings, regardless of their heart condition. King Saul offered generous sacrifices, hoping God would overlook his disobedience (1 Sam 15:22-23). David may have assumed that after all he had done on God's behalf, God would overlook his sin (2 Sam 12:7-15). Ananias and Sapphira thought that their generous gift to the church would compensate for their deceitfulness (Acts 5:1-11). Paul was certainly one who had thought his zealousness would please God. After his conversion, however, he concluded that even if he had faith to remove mountains, gave all he had to feed the poor, and offered his body to be burned for the sake of God, and yet had a heart that was not right, it would all be for nothing (1 Cor 13:1-3)

We are susceptible to the same misunderstanding as all of these people were. We can be deceived into assuming God is more interested in our activity for Him than He is in the condition of our heart. God has consistently made it clear that He will not be pacified by even the most generous offerings and zealous service if our hearts are not right with him (Micah 6:6-8). No matter how much we do in God's service, regardless of how active we are in our church, not matter how honorable our reputation in the Christian community, He will not overlook a sinful heart. His desire is that we devote ourselves to knowing Him and loving Him with all our hearts.