We are taught that we must become upright people who, in God’s sight, are blameless and fully keep His commandments. “In the time of Herod king of Judea there was a priest named Zechariah, who belonged to the priestly division of Abijah; his wife Elizabeth was also a descendant of Aaron. Both of them were righteous in the sight of God, observing all the Lord’s commands and decrees blamelessly” [(Modern Translation: “When Herod was king of Judea, there was a priest named Zechariah of the division of Abijah, and his wife Elizabeth also came from the family of Aaron. They were righteous before God and faithfully kept all the Lord’s commandments and regulations without fault”)] (Luke 1:5–6). While meditating on this passage, I would like to draw out the lessons given to us: (1) The author of Luke’s Gospel, Luke, first wrote to Theophilus about John the Baptist’s parents. The father’s name was “Zechariah” (meaning, “The LORD remembers...
Christian heart management
“Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the
springs of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
There is still an unforgettable event. A mother, whom I know, was shot to death when
she ran out of her store in following a robber who came into her store and
stole her money. The money the robber
stole from the store was $100. It was an
absurd event. Of course, I don't think
she went after the robber to keep $100 because it could be a momentary
reaction. However, one precious life
died for just $100.
Too many people seem to give their whole strength, heart, and sincerity to
keep money. I think we are doing
whatever we can to protect money in this materialistic world. What's even more frightening is the fact that
we are throwing away our hearts to protect our money. I am thinking about what we Christians are
doing in this world where people try to protect money even while throwing away
their conscience. Are we different from
them? Aren’t we trying to control the
Lord's church with money by strengthening our neck in the church with money,
boasting in front of the church members?
Why are we throwing our hearts?
Why aren’t we any no longer committed ourselves to protect our hearts? Our hearts are getting dirty. What is even more frightening is that even
the faith to rely on the blood of Jesus' cross is fading in our dirty hearts. It seems that we are living by showing people
our form of godliness in our proud instinct to save our hearts that are being
polluted by law. Our hearts are full of
doubts, not faith. And such hearts test
God (Acts 15:10). It is our hearts that
doubt about the salvation plan of grace that God has established (Park). In short, our hearts don’t know "the
grace of the Lord Jesus" (v. 11).
God is giving us the word of
life today. Above all else, we must
guard our hearts because “it is the wellspring of life” (Prov. 4:23). We should not take this fundamental lesson
lightly. We should not waste time
focusing on other things while ignoring the wellspring of life. Specifically, how should we proceed to guard
our hearts? We must keep it by
faith. We must cleanse our hearts by
faith (Acts 15:9). We must do our best
to cleanse and prioritize guarding our hearts amidst Satan's devilish schemes
and many temptations. Although it may be
difficult, painful, lonely, and exhausted, we must guard our hearts with all
our lives. In order to do that, we must
claim only Christ's righteousness by faith.
We must consider our righteousness rubbish. We can boast only our sins and our
weakness. We must hold onto the truth,
saved only through the righteousness of the Lord Jesus Christ, with all our
heart, mind, and soul. In addition,
since we are sanctified through the work of the truth of the Holy Spirit in our
life of faith, we must live a sanctified life.
“Create in me a clean heart, O God …” (Ps. 51:10).
Neglecting
the care of the mind, sighing at the abundance of weeds,
James
Kim
(In a prayerful heart, eagerly awaiting the
short time spent in prayer, looking completely to the Lord who becomes the
gardener of my heart)
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