- Scripture: Proverbs 4:23
- Broadcast Date: 02/08/2016
“DO YOU HAVE HEART TROUBLE?” Proverbs 4:23 In just a few days now we will be observing Valentine’s Day, a day when we think about the heart! And well we should because out of the heart are all the issues of life. The writer of Proverbs spells it out in the fourth chapter and 23rd verse. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
In just a few days now we will be observing Valentine’s Day, a day when we think about the heart! And well we should because out of the heart are all the issues of life. The writer of Proverbs spells it out in the fourth chapter and 23rd verse. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” No small matter, that heart. If it stops beating, everything ends. The heart is all-important.
So also with the spiritual heart, all of life revolves around it. It is the center of things spiritual. If the heart is right with God, all that follows will be right with God. But the same is true if the heart is not right with God, for the result is despair and everlasting loss. Twenty-five hundred years ago the prophet Jeremiah declared, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Not a pretty picture, to be sure. But the old prophet Isaiah puts it even stronger. Listen to him describe the heart of the unsaved. “But the wicked are the troubled sea, when it cannot rest, whose waters cast up mire and dirt. There is no peace, saith my God, to the wicked.” Lord have mercy! Friend, when the heart goes wrong, the whole person goes wrong.
King David discovered that the hard way. Before his heart was done he had committed murder and adultery! As a consequence, David hated himself and bitterly repented of his sins. In his despair and agony of soul he cries out to God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me.” (Psalm 51:10). David had it right. If we are tired of our sins and want cleansing, there is only one place to go, and that is to God. And God will not only cleanse us with the blood of His Son, but He will give us a new heart in tune with the things of God and the things that are eternal. The apostle John tells us, “the blood of Jesus Christ cleanseth us from all sin.” (I John 1:7). And that is why I love to preach, because I have good news! Good news in that I can assure you that if you come to Jesus for cleansing, your heart will be made clean and your sins will be forgiven. I speak from experience. As a ten year old boy, I asked Jesus to forgive me for my sins and come into my heart and cleanse me from all sin—and He did 85 years ago. You ask, how can it be? Let me explain.
Jesus speaks to all whose heart is not right, and he tells us, “Behold, I stand at the door, and knock: if any man hear my voice, and open the door, I will come into him, and sup with him, and he with me.” (Revelation 3:20). That’s it. So simple that even a child can do it. Ask Him to come into your heart. Admit to Jesus that you know you have sinned against Him, and ask Him to come into your heart and take away your sins. Promise to forsake all known sin—that is repentance; and that you will serve Him as best you can. Then thank Him for saving you, and your heart will be pure and clean. Your name will be written in the Lamb’s Book of Life, and brother, sister, you can really celebrate Valentine’s Day, the day of the heart!