I hate to troll for comments, but I am very interested in hearing from some of you theologians (and from those who aren't!) on this topic.
Clearly, we all have hearts. The dictionary defines it as "a hollow muscular organ of vertebrate animals that by its rhythmic contraction acts as a force pump maintaining the circulation of the blood." See heart. But is that really the "heart" of the bible? Heart is mentioned over 800 times in the bible, which is about 4 times more often than the mind is mentioned.
Did you know that God grieved in His heart? And it was all because of the evil of our hearts. Genesis 6:5-6. We of course are called to love God with all our heart and to keep His commandments on our heart. Deuteronomy 6:4-6. It is in our hearts that we develop pride and forget the Lord. Deuteronomy 8:11-17.
Fearful hearts are contagious. Deuteronomy 20:8. Our hearts can be circumcised. Deuteronomy 30:6. Drunkenness brings a merry heart. 1 Samuel 25:36. And King Solomon, when granted his wish, asked for an "understanding heart," and God granted him his prayer by giving him "largeness of heart." 1 Kings 3:9 & 1 Kings 4:29.
Solomon and David both had conversations with their hearts. Psalm 4:4 and Ecclesiastes 1:16. Imagine that, some might thing you crazy, talking to yourself that way. :) And we know that the pure in heart are blessed and that where we put our treasure our heart follows. Matthew 5:8 & Matthew 6:21. We can harden our hearts (Hebrews 3) and God can harden our hearts as well (Pharaoh). One last example is that the Word of God judges our hearts, penetrating deep within. Hebrews 4:12.
So, getting to my point with this brief survey of a few of the verses on the heart of the bible, what does this really mean? What is the heart of the bible? How do we talk to our hearts? How is it that only God can discern the heart and not even we, the "owner" of our hearts, can discern it? Jeremiah 17:9-10. We cannot even depend on our own heart; we must trust in Him alone. Have you ever studied the "heart" of the Bible? What do you think it means to love the Lord with all our hearts? What really is the heart???
1 comment:
Okay, I'm going to jump in here where it seems that the wiser have feared to tread. I've always been taught and heard it preached that the heart, biblically speaking, is the essence of the person. That is, the heart is the seat (or site perhaps) of the will and emotions. I think at times the older classification of man that many preachers taught as consisting of body, soul, and spirit is perhaps a bit arbitrary and too compartmentalized. But adopting that framework for a moment, I think both soul and spirit in that view would be synonymous with the heart as it is used in the Scriptures.
Thanks a lot for your insightful posts and comments on many blogs.
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