Text- Proverbs 23:26- “My son, give me thine heart and let thine eyes observe my ways.”
Our prayers are mostly filled with requests to God to give us something… God give me money, God give me a house, God give me a car, God give me a husband, God give me a wife, God give me a job, God give me breakthrough, God give me this, God give me that, God give me… the list as endless!
Yet there is just one thing God is asking for. He says, “Son, give me your heart”
Let’s settle something quickly before we proceed with this teaching. The statement, “Give your heart to God” is usually understood to mean a call for salvation. But then, there is simply nowhere in the Bible that an unsaved person is asked to “give their heart to God”.
The only thing an unsaved person is asked to do with his heart in order to be saved is to ‘believe in his heart’. Romans 10:10 says “For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you profess your faith and are saved”
Clearly, the appeal (or command, as it were), “Give me your heart” is rightly applied to sons. It is God’s request, addressed to believers! It is God’s command to you and me.
You must have heard many times already that man is a tripartite being. He is a spirit, he has a soul and he lives in a body. The Spirit of man is who he is primarily, the soul of man is the seat of his individuality, and the body of man is the tool for his expressions.
The heart is one of the three components of the soul. It is made up of man’s emotions and reasoning. Your heart is where your emotions and your reasoning emanate from.
Your emotion is the summation of how you feel. It largely influences and controls your behavior. Let’s see few scriptures that validate this.
- Judges 16:25 - "And when their hearts were merry..." - 1Samuel 2:1 - "My heart rejoices in the Lord..." - Isaiah 65:14 talks about joy of heart and sorrow of heart" - 1John 3:21 - "Dear friends, if our heart condemn us not"
So when God says, “Son, give me your heart”. One of the things God is saying is, “Son, give me your emotions”. That is to say, “Give your affections to me, so as to love me with all your heart. Give your passion to me so as to follow after me, and long after me as the dear pants for water”
That explains Jesus’ response when he was asked by an expert in the law, which is the greatest commandment in the Law? Matthew 22:37 records Jesus saying “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the first and greatest commandment.”
PRAYER
Lord Jesus, I give my heart to you. I love you with all my heart, Grant me the grace to stay true to this commitment and to follow after you passionately
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