Are our hearts for Him?

I recently listened to a sermon by Al Martin on the heart of man. It was very good, so i've attached the main points with  my own ponderings.

(NB: I realise that "ponderings" may not be a word, but it serves my purpose.)

I speak to myself in these things before i speak to any of you.

As Christians, we should make it our constant aim to draw near to Christ in heart, not just in mouth. It's far too easy to "talk the talk" but show no evidence of Christ in our day to day lives. If our heart's are not in Christ, we will eventually slip up. A pretence can only be kept for so long. We must be in Christ and of Christ, He is to be our everything, we should be consumed in Him. To "pretend" to be in Christ, is, suite simply, blasphemous.

"A man's mouth is the echo chamber of his heart."

Basically, a man's mouth indicates the true state of his heart. Even if man cannot see when we are whited sepulchres, God sees that we are "full of dead men's bones". Is keeping up appearances worth risking your eternal soul for?

We should not worry what men think of us. We should be concerned only with what the LORD thinks of us. A truly pure heart is evident by the God-pleasing life that springs forth as a result of that purity. We must be all for God, we cannot serve God and mammon. We must choose our ground.

Our heart's are spoken of much in Scripture. Proverbs 4v23 tells us "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life."

A heart sincerely in God must be:

• Constantly Guarded

We cannot be too careful with our hearts. When we are saved, our hearts become God's, they are His by rightful ownership. This does not mean, however, that our hearts will not go astray, therefore we must watch with all diligence for things that could take us away from a close walk with our Saviour; we must watch for our heart, that we do not leave our First Love. The devil is as a roaring lion, and young Christians are his prey. If we are walking on with the LORD and serving Him as we should, we are actively attacking Satan. This will not go unnoticed, and we will no doubt face trials and temptations on a daily basis. To overcome these, we must pray for strength and guard our hearts, that the fiery darts of the wicked one do not penetrate our souls.

• Continually Tender

Our hearts are not to be slow, hard, or evil. They are to be tender. The more tender our heart, the more responsive we will be to the word of God. The more tender our heart, the greater our burden will be for the lost, and the greater our compulsion should be to evangelise. Of all the things a Christian should possess, i would argue that a tender heart is one of the most important qualities to possess. Our hearts can only be softened by God,  but once they are softened, we must continually immerse ourself in Scripture, and spend much time in prayer, that they would not become as stone again.

• Increasingly loving, responsive and vulnerable

Vulnerable to God. Responsive to His Word. Loving to Him, appreciative of the work He has done in our lives, loving to the lost. We must be tuned into Scripture, we should begin the day and end the day in the Word, referring to it continually throughout the day. Through it, God speaks to us, and we must heed it. The less time we spend with God, the less responsive we will be to His Word.

If we claim to be His, He must be our everything. Our lives *must* be centred *fully* around God. In all things, we must seek to honour Him. This is true, and most Christians will accept that it should be so, but to what extent do we actually apply this to our lives? Is God our everything? Do we lean on Him, and Him along, for *all* things?