Heart Appearance
The heart is core central to your being.
What is at the core of your being? What is the source of your life? The heart is central to your being both physically and spiritually. Much like our physical heart has four chambers, the spiritual heart referred to in the Bible is where four internal characteristics intersect. These characteristics include: mind-your thoughts, emotions-your feelings, will-your ambition, and conscience-your moral compass.
Let's look at the Old Testament of the Bible to see what God says about the heart. The Israelites became unhappy with the judge's ruling and cried out for a king. This Kingdom Era spanned over roughly 120 years. These books cover this time: 1 and 2 Samuel, 1 Kings, 1 and 2 Chronicles, Psalms, Proverbs, Song of Solomon, and Ecclesiastes. The three kings were: Saul, David, and Solomon.
Saul was instructed to utterly destroy the city of Amalek. Instead, he captured the king, Agag, and took the best of the animals and all that was good. This disobedience cost Saul his kingship.
This brings us to the story in 1 Samuel 16 where Samuel is looking for the new king. As instructed by God, he travels to Bethlehem to select a king from one of Jesse’s sons. The eldest son, Eliab, was presented and God rejected him saying not to look at his stature or outward appearance but rather look at the heart. Seven sons passed before Samuel and none were chosen. The youngest son, David, was out protecting sheep from bears and lions. When brought before Samuel, God chose this humble servant to be the next king. God sees things through a different lens. People tend to judge by outward appearance while God looks at the heart of a person.
God sees your thoughts, feelings, ambition, and moral compass. He sees your commitment, faithfulness, and loyalty. He sees your heart's DNA.
Wow, that sounds like being “all in” for God means being perfect. Wrong, quite the opposite. Imperfect, broken, hurt, struggling people are exactly who God uses. When Jesus is in the middle of your spiritual heart, you will be motivated to live the way He desires. You can be free to live future-bound, no longer driven or tossed by the past.
The Lord’s Promise: “God sees not as man sees, for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” 1 Samuel 16:7 NASB 1995
Promise Reinforced: “Thou alone dost know the hearts of all the sons of men.” 1 Kings 8:39
For You Today:
1. Check your heart appearance today, then consider implementing any necessary changes.
2. Our assessment of another person is different from God’s view. Can I help shape the heart of another person? Would that be a better use of my time than judging their outward appearance? The heart makes it possible to believe. Romans 10:9-10 says, “that if you confess with your mouth Jesus as Lord and believe in your heart that God raised Him from the dead, you will be saved; for with the heart a person believes, resulting in righteousness, and with the mouth he confesses, resulting in salvation."