Proverbs 4:23
Above all else, guard your heart,
for it is the wellspring of life.
People generally consider the head–with its brain–to be the center and director of individual human thought and activity. However, the Bible refers to the heart as the center of our being; “it is the wellspring of life” (Pr 4:23; cf. Lk 6:45). When the Bible speaks of the “heart,” it is not referring to our physical organ that pumps blood throughout the body. It is referring the whole of one’s intellect, emotion and will (Mk 7:20-23).
(1) The heart is the center of the intellect.
The Bible describes people knowing (Dt 8:5), praying (1Sa 1:12-13), and meditating in their hearts (Ps 19:14). They are also able to hide God’s word in their heart (Ps 119:11), devise plans (Ps 140:2) and retain God’s word there (Pr 4:21). Individuals are able to think (Mk 2:8), doubt (Mk 11:23), ponder (Lk 2:19), believe (Ro 10:9) and sing in their hearts (Eph 5:19). All of these abilities of the heart involve the mind.
(2) The heart is the center of the emotions.
The Bible speaks about the glad heart (Ex 4:14), the loving heart (Dt 6:5), the fearful heart (Jos 5:1), the courageous heart (Ps 27:14), the repentant heart (Ps 51:17), the anxious heart (Pr 12:25), the angry heart (Pr 19:3), the revived heart (Isa 57:15), the anguished heart (Jer 4:19; Ro 9:2), the delighted heart (Jer 15:16), the grieving heart (La 2:18), the humble heart (Mt 11:29), the excited or burning heart (Lk 24:32) and the troubled heart (Jn 14:1). All of these actions of the heart are basically emotional in nature.
(3) Finally, the heart is the center of the human will.
The will could be defined as one’s desire, motivation, purpose, determination or ability to choose. We read in God’s Word about the hardened heart that resists God and refuses to do what he commands (Ex 4:21), the heart that is yielded, or submitted, to God (Jos 24:23), the heart that intends to do something (2Ch 6:7), the heart that is devoted to pursuing a deeper relationship with God (1Ch 22:19), the heart that decides (2Ch 6:7), the heart that desires to receive from God (Ps 21:1-2), the heart that is turned toward God’s laws (Ps 119:36) and the heart that wants to do something (Ro 10:1). All of these are acts of the human will.
THE NATURE AND CONDITION OF THE HEART APART FROM GOD
When Adam and Eve chose to defy and disobey God’s command and follow the serpent’s temptation to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, their decision was most destructive to the human heart. Because of their choice, the human heart became open to and filled with evil influences and selfish desires. That is why the words “follow your heart” are literally not good advice, though the speaker may mean well. The Bible shows us the real, naturally dark and sobering condition of the heart apart from God. In the God-inspired words of the prophet Jeremiah, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9). Jesus explained this truth another way when he said that spiritual impurity (being unlike God) is not the failure to follow some ritual or ceremonial law; it is the willingness to follow the pull of wickedness that is written deep within the heart of humankind. He meant such things as “evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly” (Mk 7:21-22). Jesus taught about the seriousness of holding tight to sin in the heart when he explained that the sin of anger is equal to murder (Mt 5:21-22), and the sin of lust is the same as taking part in adultery (Mt 5:27-28; Ex 20:14, Mt 5:28,).
Hearts that are stubbornly turned toward evil are on a path that will make them hardened (i.e., totally resistant) toward God. Those who keep refusing to accept God’s Word and to obey what he commands put themselves in a most dangerous situation. They may not even realize it when God finally allows them to go their own way. Then they will lose all sensitivity to his Word and to the Holy Spirit. The perfect example of this in the Bible is Pharaoh’s heart at the time of the exodus (i.e., Israel’s miraculous liberation from slavery in Egypt; see Ex 7:3, 13, 22-23; 8:15, 32; 9:12; 10:1; 11:10; 14:17). Paul saw the same hardened condition at work in the hearts of many who tried to influence the NT believers in Rome (Ro 1:24, 26, 28). The apostle predicted that this condition of the heart would also occur in the end times during the days of the antichrist (2Th 2:11-12). The writer of Hebrews filled his letter with warnings to believers not to harden their hearts (Heb 3:8-12). Anyone who continues to reject God’s Word will finally come to have a hardened heart.
THE SPIRITUALLY RENEWED HEART
God’s answer to the sinfulness of the human heart is regeneration, which happens in individuals who truly repent, turn to God by faith and accept Jesus as the Forgiver of their sins and Leader of their lives. Regeneration refers to a heart that has been spiritually reborn, renewed, revitalized, reformed and redeveloped (all being necessary processes of the newness) to where it is right with God.
(1) Regeneration refers to the heart being “born again” (Jn 3:3). Those who repent from their heart of all sin and confess in their heart that Jesus is Lord (Ro 10:9) are “born again” spiritually and receive a new spiritual heart from God (Ps 51:10; Eze 11:19).
(2) For those who experience this spiritual birth, God creates within them a desire to love him and to obey him. Repeatedly God makes it clear to his people the necessity of expressing a love that comes from the heart. This type of true love for God and devotion to him cannot be separated from obedience to his Word (Ps 119:34, 69, 112). True love for God and faithful obedience to God are like two sides of the same coin (Jn 14:15, 23; 1Jn 2:5; 5:3). Jesus said the way to fulfill all the law of God is to love God wholeheartedly and love others unselfishly (Mt 22:37-40).
(3) Love from the heart is the necessary part of obedience to God. But it is often the part that is lacking. Too often God’s people try to substitute a practice of religious rituals and regulations (such as sacred feast days, offerings and sacrifices) for a genuine love from the heart (Isa 1:10-17; Am 5:21-26; Mic 6:6-8; Dt 10:12). Outward activity without an inner desire to serve God is not true love and devotion. In fact, it is being boastful and false, and it is greatly condemned by Jesus (Mt 23:13-28; Lk 21:1-4).
Fire Bible Study Notes
