Be careful then, dear brothers and sisters. Make sure that your own hearts are not evil and unbelieving, turning you away from the living God. You must warn each other every day, while it is still “today,” so that none of you will be deceived by sin and hardened against God. Hebrews 3:12-13 NLT
Recently we celebrated Valentine’s Day and as always there was a lot of interest in hearts. Candy hearts, chocolate hearts, paper hearts, cut-out hearts, and balloon hearts were everywhere. The Hebrew writer was also very interested in our hearts, or the seat of our affections and emotions.
The world we live in does its best daily to destroy our hearts. We are bombarded with information, advertising, entertainment, and temptations that are aimed at our affections. They are purposeful and often calculated to pull us in one direction or the other. Even people can have that effect on us as well.
We must guard our hearts if we are to remain faithful to God. Our hearts are not to be trusted, and so the writer says, “be careful” and “make sure.” Be sure of your heart and its affections. Test it and prove it daily. Be honest so that you can move back toward God if you need to. Don’t be afraid to do the examination.
Jeremiah the prophet wrote these words: “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10 NLT).
Pause every day and truly examine your heart. Allow the Holy Spirit to show you your motives. Do everything you can to defeat the influence and pull of anything that moves you away from God. Love God first and foremost. Put God first on the throne of your heart. Pray this prayer from Psalm 139: 23-24 (NLT) often:
Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my
anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends you,
and lead me along the path of everlasting life. Amen.