We Dedicate Our Hearts

In the days of Ezra, they dedicated the Temple of God to the LORD.  That’s because the Temple of the LORD was the place where they encountered God.  It’s where they drew near to God.  It is where they “saw” God.

Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God. (Matthew 5:8 ESV)

Today, we encounter God in a different way.  We draw near to God through the work of Jesus, God’s Messiah.  We receive the Spirit of God and our bodies become the Temple of the Holy Spirit.  We recognize when God is at work in us and working through us.  When our hearts are turned over to God, we see God.

A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. (Matthew 12:35 NLT)

Our hearts are similar to our minds in that there are both good and bad thoughts that are in there.  Our hearts are different, though, in that they are more like warehouses with stored thoughts than the high-traffic area of our minds.  In our minds we direct traffic.  We decide what to “store” in our hearts.

"Don't store up treasures here on earth, where moths eat them and rust destroys them, and where thieves break in and steal. Store your treasures in heaven, where moths and rust cannot destroy, and thieves do not break in and steal. Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. (Matthew 6:19-21 NLT)

When we dedicate our hearts to God, we are deciding only to store away things that are of God.  We are also choosing to go into our hearts with God to clean up the places that are storing things not of God.  When we dedicate our hearts to God, it is not just a feeling.  It’s a commitment to, place by place, turn our hearts over to God – creating in us a pure heart.

How about you?  Do you dedicate your heart to God?  Do you go into your heart with God and turn over the places to God that are not of God?  Is God creating in you a pure heart?  Do you see God?