ABUNDANCE OF THE HEART

The Bible speaks often of the human heart and its capabilities. Most are aware that biologically the heart is a blood pump and not the reservoir of thoughts and emotion. Nevertheless, probably because it is centrally located in our chests and is the one part of our bodies that can be heard and felt operating, it has been used to describe the essence of man's life. The Bible speaks of it likewise as such.

Jesus said we are to "love the Lord thy God with all they heart, and with all thy soul and with all thy mind" (Matt. 22:37;). The word "all" speaks to the potential abundance of our being. God won't take part; He wants all. Isaiah once described the partially loyal hearts of Israel with these words: "Forasmuch as this people draw near to me with their mouth, and with their lips do honor me, but have removed their heart far from me, and their fear toward me is taught by the precept of men" (Isa. 29:13). They were guilty of claiming a partial love for God, visible by the outward expression of the mouth, but the inward devotion of the heart was committed elsewhere. Their loyalties lay somewhere besides God.

Jesus picked up the same thought as He addressed another generation of Israel, exposing their hypocrisy. He said, "O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Mt. 12:34). Jesus could see their hearts as they paraded themselves as holy people. They looked righteous and talked righteous, but they too had hearts far from God.

What does He mean by the abundance of the heart? Abundance means plenty or a fullness, nothing lacking. A heart that is such is full of something. A heart that is evil is full of evil, having it in abundance. It will show itself as such even when it tries to disguise it. On the other hand, a heart abundantly full of good will show goodness and there will be no attempt to hide it. Jesus being able to judge the hearts of men (cf. Jn. 2:25) could see beyond the external presentation. As men we can't do that. But what we can do is see the fruits of the heart. When the disguise is removed by evil action the heart is revealed.

Yet, we can all see one heart very clearly, and that is our own. If our hearts are of mixed loyalties we know it and we must do something about it to please God. He wants our hearts to be abundantly filled with good things, His things. While we can fool others we can't fool God. And we need to be careful that we don't deceive ourselves as well. What is your hearts condition?

Dennis L. Curd