Jonathan Edwards, the brilliant American theologian and student of human behavior once said, “Every decision you make is determined by the strongest desire reigning in your heart at the time of the decision.” In other words, your heart shapes every decision you make. But those heart desires are shaped by the lens through which we see life. This episode examines first how to build the habit of heart alignment, and second how to build the habit of putting in our spiritual contact lenses so our hearts see life from God’s perspective.
When RC Sproul first taught me Edward’s observation that we always choose what we most WANT at any point in time, I balked, because, I thought, “Sometimes I do what I don’t want to do—exercising, eating vegetables, catching up on paperwork.” But Sproul went on to say, “Suppose a robber puts a gun to your head and says, ‘Your money or your life.’ I thought, “Yeah that’s a great example of having to do what you don’t want to do.” But Sproul pointed out that in that situation you will still do what you most want to do. The robber has just limited your choices: either give him your money or have your brains on the sidewalk. Given those two options, you WANT to give the thief your money more than you WANT your brains on the sidewalk. So, you do what you most WANT to do at that moment—give him the money and stay alive. I labor Edward’s point to emphasize that our heart desires and longings steer our entire lives. God reveals this truth in Proverbs 4:23, Above all else, guard your heart, for from it flow the springs of life. For this reason, our mission, as Christ-followers, always begins with KEEPING OUR HEARTS PROPERLY ALIGNED. We state it this way: We are called TO Christ, to enjoy a love relationship with him. The vital importance of keeping the affections of our heart set upon God first is underscored by our Lord who told us this is the first and greatest of all commandments: “You shall love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength” (Mark 12:30). The only way to keep the greatest commandment is to regularly look at the affections of our hearts, see where their focus may have drifted away from Christ, our first love, and and stir up our devotion to him.
THE CASE FOR HABIT 1: WEEKLY REALIGNING OUR HEART'S LOVES
1. Because our hearts so easily become misaligned. That is why the first two of the ten commandments are, “Have no other God’s before me,” and, “Don’t make idols.” God’s creation is so good, and his design of us is to ENJOY our work, our task of procreating, the loved ones and friendships around us—to FIND PLEASURE in discovering and developing the playground he has given us, whether savoring art, music, sports, competition, riding waves at the beach, or kayaking in the Adirondacks. Because he loves us so much God made his world deliciously pleasurable for us—So we can forget that knowing, loving, and being loved by the GIVER of all these gifts is the greatest pleasure of all. C.S. Lewis’ words come to mind. "We are half-hearted creatures, fooling around with drink, and sex, and ambition when infinite joy is offered to us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased" (Sermon: “The Weight of Glory”).
2. Because the root of sin is to get our heart loves out of order. Spiritual maturity is more a matter of God changing what our hearts love than it is changing what our hands do. For the great Christian thinker, Augustine, what we call human virtues, he would call forms of love. Courage is loving your neighbor’s well being more than your own safety. Honesty is loving your neighbor’s interests more than your own, even when the truth will put you at a disadvantage. He also argued that God designed a correct ORDER for the heart’s loves. But sin has corrupted the intensity—the priority of our loves—causing us to love less important things more and more important things less. One author summarizes Augustine’s thoughts:
"The unhappiness and disorder of our lives are caused by the disorder of our loves. A just and good person, “is also a person who has rightly ordered his love, so that he does not love what is wrong to love, or fail to love what should be loved, or love too much what should be loved less (or love too little what should be loved more). How dies this work? There is nothing wrong with loving your work, but if you love your work more than your family, then your loves are out of order, and you may ruin your family. Or if you love making money more than you love justice, then you will exploit your employees, again, because your loves are disordered." (Tim Keller, Making Sense of God).
How does this apply to the habit of aligning and realigning our hearts? Augustine would answer, “The reason that even the best possible worldly goods will not satisfy is because we were created for a degree of delight and fulfillment that they cannot produce.” As Augustine famously said to God at the beginning of his Confessions, “You stir man to take pleasure in praising you, because you have made us for yourself, and our heart is restless until it finds its rest in you. We harm ourselves when we allow ourselves to love anything more than God, himself—that’s why we need heart realignment.
3. Because if we are not filling our hearts with God’s love, we will become people-pleasers, subtly craving others’ acceptance, (which gives enormous power to the people around us). Scotty Smith observes the power of peer pressure, amplified by the social media. People’s acceptance, he points out:
- Becomes the oxygen that we need to live
- Becomes the electricity to power our circuits
- Becomes the cocaine that medicates our pain
- Becomes the prophet whose every word is truth
- Becomes the priest who have the power to make us feel acceptable
- Becomes the king who control us at will. (Objects of His Affection).
Wanting the love of the crowd easily replaces our longing for God’s love, which brings pain to the heart of the God we love. Tim Keller writes, "Idols ultimately are cruel to the heart of the one who offers us so much, and at such infinite cost. Realize that when you pine after idols… you are saying, 'Lord, you are not enough. This is more beautiful, fulfilling, and sweet to my taste than you' (Preaching the Gospel).
4. Because dwelling in God’s presence is designed by him to be a profound source of joy for us. The Psalmist knew this reality firsthand. He wrote, "In your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore" (Ps 16:11). God doesn’t want the burdens and responsibilities of life to drown our joy! God does not want us being so busy, so responsible, so committed to doing things FOR God that we don’t take time to ENJOY BEING WITH God! That is why in this blog we define our mission first as Being Called TO God: To enjoy a love relationship with God. The fallen world around us and our own sin can tear us down emotionally. But God wants us to regularly fix our eyes on him and feast. Could you use a little more joy in your life?
5. Because as image-bearers of God the deepest thirst and most acute hunger of our souls is to be delighted in by God. Scotty Smith points out, "The seventeenth-century Westminster Shorter Catechism states, 'The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy him forever.' Author and pastor John Piper has appropriately restated this old confession this way: “The chief end of man is to glorify God BY enjoying him forever,” and 'God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in him.' We enjoy God to the degree that we know his delight" (Objects of His Affection). And Scripture is clear that we are his delight. Psalm 149 says, "Let Israel be glad in his Maker; let the children of Zion rejoice in their King! Let them praise his name with dancing, making melody to him with tambourine and lyre! FOR the Lord takes pleasure in his people." (vs 2-4a). When God looks upon you and me, he experiences pleasure. Think of that.
So, we’ve seen five reasons for building the habit of regularly realigning our hearts to focus our affections upon the Lord as our first love. Paul wants the Philippian Christians to keep their hearts aligned, when he commands, "Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice." This is the command to deliberately, intentionally, choose to enjoy God. Take pleasure in, satisfy your heart in, take delight in—ENJOY—the Lord, commands Paul. How do we build a habit to do this?
The Biblical parallel between a husband/wife relationship and our love relationship with Christ our bridegroom may give a powerful answer. Afterall, a good way to describe the purpose of romance and sex in marriage is HEART REALIGNMENT--renewing our delight in our mate, alone, with no competitors. Sandy and I began our family with four kids born to us in 3.5 years! I saw quickly that keeping our love relationship vital was going to require three habits. First, carving out regular daily couch time away from the kids to talk. Second, having a weekly scheduled date night for romance and sex. Third, getting away for a romantic weekend together once a year. The parallel is probably obvious. Some daily time to talk to Jesus and hear him talk to us through his Word is vital. And occasionally, getting away to retreat just with the Lord is valuable. But let’s focus on this third pattern of a weekly date night. Without being inappropriate, let’s observe five parallels between a weekly date night in marriage, and a weekly time set apart to celebrate our love relationship with Christ.
- Both require extended time together—just the two of you, once per week. No relationship can grow, or even be sustained for that matter, without time alone, just with one another. In the rhythm God created for our relationship with HIM, one day in seven was appointed for God’s people to draw near to God in worship, and gaze upon the beauty of the Lord (Ps 27:4). Following this pattern, I wanted (at least) once a week to gaze without distraction upon the beauty of Sandy. Just as God created sex to nourish marriage by couples setting apart regular time alone to gaze upon each other’s nakedness and celebrate their love, our love relationship with God in Christ must be nourished by regular quality time face to face in order to celebrate our love relationship. (I suggest stealing one hour a week, maybe Sunday morning afternoon, or evening).
- Date night begins with conversation. Heart realignment begins with some quality time to pour out to God what is really on your mind. Sometimes, date night would force Sandy and me to verbalize the conflict going on between us that we were ignoring. Similarly. the heart realignment habit towards our Lord begins with honesty—the Psalms are a lasting picture of David’s honesty before God—what I’m angry about, what I’m hurt over, what I’m afraid of, what I’m frustrated with, the sins that I have committed, etc.
- The goal of date night is taking a step towards the goal of marriage: knowing each other more deeply while continuing to love one another. In deepening my love for God this means, for me, reading a text of Scripture that focuses on God's attributes or reading a book like Knowing God, The Holiness of God, or Objects of His Affections. Another way to deepen intmacy with Jesus is to pray, “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting” (Ps 139:23).
- In God’s book on lovemaking, the Song of Songs, each lover extensively praises the other’s beauty. Heart realignment requires us to focus on the perfections of our God and lavish him with praise. Often, I repeat one of the psalms to God.
- Although I would never claim to know the results of lovemaking for wives, I will say that for men, the process ends with feeling profound gratefulness for her. Another part of a heart alignment habit with God is expressing our thankfulness to our God for who he is and the countless ways he has blessed me, especially turning my spiritually dead, rebellious heart towards him.
HABIT 2: SHARPENING MY SPIRITUAL VISION BY BEING IN GOD’S WORD
Here are 4 reasons for hearing, reading, studying, and meditating upon the Word of God:
A. Because God’s Word is LIFE
- Psalm 1. “Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on his law, he meditates day and night. He shall be like a tree planted by streams of water that yields its fruit in its season, and its leaf does not wither. In all that he does, he prospers.”
- Psalm 19: “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul; the testimony of the Lord is sure, making wise the simple; the precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart; the commandment of the Lord is pure, enlightening the eyes; the fear of the Lord is clean, enduring forever; the rules of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether. More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold; sweeter also than honey and the honeycomb. By them is your servant warned; in keeping them there is great reward.”
- Proverbs 3: “Blessed is the one who finds wisdom, and the one who gets understanding, for the gain from her is better than gain from silver and her profit better than gold. She is more precious than jewels, and nothing you desire can compare with her. Long life is in her right hand; in her left hand are riches and honor. Her ways are ways of pleasantness and all her paths are peace. SHE IS A TREE OF LIFE TO THOSE WHO LAY HOLD OF HER. Those who take hold of her are called blessed.
B. Because our fallen mind is like a laptop with a deadly virus. There are two reasons why we often default to incorrect thinking. Sin has darkened our understanding (Eph 4:18) and Satan, the Father of Lies, has direct access to our thought process. Here are just a few ways we think logically; but it is to the wrong conclusion:
We think ultimate happiness and fulfillment come from the right circumstances. Jesus taught that happiness (MAKAROUS) comes from the right attitudes (see the Beatitudes Matt 5-12).
We think the way to be rich is to stockpile money and add to our wealth. Jesus said, “Give and it will be given to you—good measure, pressed down, shaken together and running over will they pour into your lap” (Luke 6:37-38).
We think sexual pleasure satisfies even if it is illicit. Jesus said it is those who hunger and thirst for righteousness who will find satisfaction (Matt 5:7).
We think happiness comes from being liked. Jesus said, “How miserable for you when everybody says nice things about you” (Luke 6:26).
We doubt God’s love when everything goes wrong. God says that the one whom the Lord loves he takes through character training and that if God didn’t build our character, we might well doubt that he has truly adopted us” (see Heb 12:6-8).
We subtly think our accomplishments will bring us honor. God says, “A person’s pride will bring him low, but a humble spirit will obtain honor.” (Prov 29:13).
When we are facing financial pressure, it makes us want to hold onto our money. God says, “Honor the Lord from your wealth and from the first of all your produce; Then your barns will be filled with plenty, and your vats will overflow with new wine” (Prov 3:10).
We try to save money, by sometimes cutting ethical corners. God says, “Ill-gotten gains do not benefit.” (Prov 10:3).
When we can’t get our minds around how to solve a problem, we lie awake at night worrying. God says, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, and He will make your paths straight (Prov 3:5-6).
C. The third reason for regularly being in God’s Word is that obeying God is the way that he has told us to love him. Consider Deut 6:4-6, the Shema: “Hear, Israel! The Lord is our God, the Lord is one! And you shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These words, which I am commanding you today, shall be on your heart.” Jesus also said, “If you love me, keep my commandments.” If our greatest desire is to love our Commander in Chief back because of the great way he has loved us and because he deserves the best we can offer—we must devote ourselves to knowing what God’s Word says.
D. The fourth reason for regularly being in God’s Word is that it is the best form of security we have against future catastrophe for ourselves and our families. Jesus closed his most famous sermon with these familiar words.
“Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock. But everyone who hears these words of mine and does not put them into practice is like a foolish man who built his house on sand. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house, and it fell with a great crash (Matt 7:24-27).
As you and I begin our fall routine, God will be giving us each the gift of 168 hours every week. How many do you plan to devote to these foundational habits: Keeping your passion for Christ burning with intensity, building your life around obedience to God’s Word?
For Further Prayerful Thought:
- Why should Christians watch over their heart with all diligence?
- If you were explaining to a young believer how we need to go about delighting ourselves in the Lord and why, what would you say?
- What were the most persuasive arguments to convince you to spend time in God’s Word?
