Who has your heart? - Ruminating in the Word of God

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 Judges 8:33-35,

"No sooner had Gideon died than the Israelites again prostituted
themselves to the Baals. They set up Baal-Berith as their god and did
not remember the Lord their God, who had rescued them from the hands
of all their enemies on every side. They also failed to show kindness
to the family of Jerub-Baal (that is, Gideon) for all the good things
he had done for them."

What an indictment for any people! As soon as Gideon died, the leader
God used to deliver Israel from the devastation the Midianites brought
upon Israel, they forgot about God and "failed to show kindness" to
Gideon's family! How quickly they turned! It recalls for me how
quickly Americans turned from their renewed interest in the things of
God following the attack on 9/11. Just as soon as it appeared the
danger was over, so was their renewed interest in God. It isn't just
Israel, it is all people. The heart of mankind is is rife with a
sinful disregard and rejection of its Creator.

The promiscuous worship of idols for Israel, the immersion of our
nation in materialism and a "pop-culture" that reflects and even
celebrates a collective sinful nature demonstrates this disregard and
rejection of our Creator. As if the acts themselves are not bad
enough, I am reminded that they reflect the very expression of the
heart of mankind. Even when the nation of Israel did "all the right
things" it was their hearts the Lord wanted and did not get.

Later in Israel's history, in this regard, I recall the Lord's
observation, "These people come near to me with their mouth and honor
me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me." Isaiah 29:13.
It is our hearts the Lord desires. I get the feeling from time to time
that God is regarded as the great cosmic disciplinarian whose sole
purpose it is to make us behave, to keep us from our mischievousness
or at least keep it to a minimum.

As I read the Scriptures I sense the acts of sinful man grieve the
heart of God for the reason those acts manifest he does not have our
hearts. I am not saying he does not find our sinful acts abominable.
I'm certain he does. And I am just as certain that those acts are the
very things that inspire our Creator's wrath that will certainly find
its full expression in judgment. But there is a desire within the
heart of the Lord for us, a love for us that seeks our reciprocation.
I find it in verses such as, "Jerusalem, Jerusalem, you who kill the
prophets and stone those sent to you, how often I have longed to
gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her
wings, and you were not willing." Luke 13:34.

I suspect on judgment day, when all those who do not have their names
written in the Book of Life are cast into that fiery lake of burning
sulfur, just as God's sense of justice is satisfied on that day, at
the same time his heart will grieve. I believe he will grieve due to
the tremendous love he has expressed for all mankind in sending his
own Son of his love to die that miserable death on that cross such
that we might have our names written in that wonderful book.

Anything of the Lord capture your heart from Scripture today? Share
what moved you about him from your Bible reading today. I'd love to
hear from you!

Trevor Fisk
trevor.fisk@gmail.com