The Lord is awe-inspiring, fearsome, fascinating, intriguing, majestic, and full of splendor: breathtaking! Here is what I saw of him and what came to my mind and heart in Joel 2:13,
"Rend your heart and not your garments."
The Lord wants our hearts, not simply outward expressions that have no basis in our desire for him.
Rending garments one wore was an outward expression of bereavement, sorrow and/or remorse for the Jews of the day. The above statement is in the midst of a broader command of God for his people to return to him. The appropriate response to the invasion of the devastating plague of locusts prophesied by Joel was to recognize they had wandered from their God, experience the remorse for having done so and then return to him in heart-felt sincerity.
The Lord was not interested in any expression that might simply be outward. I suspect that when Israel was not outright departing from their God, they were engaging in outward expressions of piety, worship, etc. that had little basis of love and devotion for the Lord within their hearts. They had wandered from him.
Today we see many churches, many TV evangelists, many mission organizations that pay their lip service to serving God as an outward expression and yet what it is they really serve is their church, their mission organization, their youth group, the success they pursue in their "ministry". Somehow the Lord himself, for whom all this activity supposedly is pursued, gets lost in the shuffle. You only have to look as far as the next opportunity someone may bring a tarnish to the "ministry" and observe whether the concern is for the weak brother or sister for whom the Lord gave his life or for "the good of the ministry."
I have been in too many positions of leadership in too many local churches where "the success of the ministry" seems to outweigh concerns for a stumbling brother or sister. This betrays a lack of love for those the Lord loves, it betrays that while lip service is offered to the Lord, other considerations have pushed the Lord and his concerns and cares to the back seat. Sincere heart-felt love and devotion to the Lord needs to be questioned.
On a more personal level, I have to ask myself the question each and every day, "where is my heart?" Is my Bible reading, my time in prayer, the opportunities I make for sharing the gospel born out of an ardent love I have for my Savior? Or do I engage in those kinds of activities for other purposes, such as to pursue good spiritual heath and happiness? Where is my heart? Does the Lord sincerely have my heart?
I'm convinced the Lord wants my heart, not outward expressions that have little basis in my affections and desire for him. Otherwise, I manifest the reality that the Lord, who is breathtaking in all his majestic splendor has somehow escaped my notice for the day.
Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share your thoughts of worship with us from your Bible reading today. We'd love to hear from you!
Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com
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