I’ll never forget the testimony given by an elderly woman in our mother church year and years ago. She was praising God and said, “The Lord has given me a clean heart.†The evidence of her clean heart radiated in her voice and on her face. Her joy was unmistakable.
David knew the value of a clean heart—one without pretense or deceit. As a result, he left us with a powerful prayer that has been turned into a favorite song: “Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a right spirit within me†(Psalm 51:10, NLT).
David’s son, Solomon, after writing much practical wisdom for his own son, came to the most important advice of all: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life†(Proverbs 4:23). That word “wellspring†translates a Hebrew word that means “source.†Our lives may reflect several symptoms, but these cannot be understood or healed without dealing with their source—the heart.
In our day, we commonly focus our attention on our “issues†(referring to personal problems or emotional disorders). But instead, we need to look deeper and ask: Where do my “issues†issue from? The answer will always lead us back to the heart and its condition before God. As Jesus said, “For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man ‘unclean’†(Matthew 15:19-20a).
Let’s pray for clean hearts—for ourselves and for each other!
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