The Heart

Sunday, February 24, 2013 | Second Sunday of Lent

Exodus 20:1-17 | Psalm 19 | I Corinthians 1:22-25 | John 2:13-25

HEART-WRENCHING

We all have been born with a severe spiritual heart defect. We all need open-heart surgery. Jesus is “the surgeon General.” Jesus alone is well aware of what is in our hearts (Jeremiah 17:10). He alone is capable of doing this operation. He already did it on Calvary. This operation was applied to our hearts when we were baptized into His death (Romans 6:3) and finished when we decided to live by faith in Christ alone.

However, we must guard our new hearts by not letting them become hardened by sin and closed through selfishness (see Psalm 95:8). We should ask Jesus to purify our hearts. He will drive out of our lives all that is not in His will (see John 2:15). He will turn many tables in our lives and spill our coins (John 2:15). He will overturn many of our plans and may dispose of some of those earthly things upon which we lean too much. The Lord will “clean house.”

When Jesus purifies our temple, it is heart-wrenching. Our first reaction is to drive Jesus out (Matthew 8:34). However, if we resist this temptation by trusting in the Lord, even if we don’t understand what He’s doing, then our new hearts will stay new and will even become like Jesus’ heart (see Matthew 11:29). “Jesus, gentle and humble of heart, make our hearts like Yours.”

Prayer: Father, cleanse my heart; make me more like my Savior.