Right Heart!
1 Peter 3:15 KJV
but sanctify the Lord God in your hearts: and be ready always to give an answer to every man that asketh you a reason of the hope that is in you with meekness and fear:
Again, the importance of the contents of the heart is emphasized here. The heart is the place where the decisions are made; where the priorities are set and the pursuits are defined. It is from the abundance of the heart that the mouth speaks. I have been advised to guard my heart with all diligence, because out of it flows the issues of life. This same heart is the one that has been judged by God to be deceitful above all things and desperately wicked. The points made above would mean that I have to place premium on whatever I allow to make an impression upon my heart. I cannot just permit anyone or anything to stake a claim for a place in my heart. That is what the verse above makes clear: the Lord has to be sanctified in my heart. He has to be given His rightful place of honour in my heart. He is Lord of all; my choices may confirm or deny this, but it does not change the fact that He is Lord. I can decide to let Him be Lord, or I can decide to hold on to the controls. I just must remember that there are eternal consequences to whatever decison I make.
When the heart is right, then the mouth is also right. When the heart is set on the things of God, the mouth will always reflect the things of God. You can fake it for a while, but you cannot fake it forever. If indeed God is in charge of my heart, his imprint upon my life will definitely show. Men will ask to see the reason for the change in me. When I do not follow after the pattern of the world, iI am challenging the world and asking it to look at my life as the perfect pattern for what pleases God. Men will definitely ask for the basis of the hope I have, and the reason why I do what I do the way I do it. This is why the work that God does in my heart will also reflect in the way I answer those who want a reason for my hope. I know who I have believed, and I know what He has saved me from. I know where I am headed, and I know the blessings that accrue to me right here in earth, and also in eternity. I live in meekness, because I acknowledge the work of God's grace in my life. What of you? God's time of favour is here.
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