## God Wants Your Heart

## Proverbs 23:26

Pr 23:26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

The story has been told of the Indian chief who sought to obtain salvation by offering first his blanket and then his gun to God. He was told that gifts like these would not purchase divine favor, but that if he wanted to be saved he must give his heart to God. Now at first this sounds good, and often the phrase "give your heart to God" is seen as a synonym for salvation. Another similar phrase is "asking Jesus into your heart". Now, both of these phrases deal with the heart and with the Lord, but nowhere in the Bible is a person who is unsaved…a lost sinner…instructed to give their heart to God or to ask Jesus to come into their heart! The Gospel does not require us to give anything to God. Eternal salvation is a matter of faith. When we place our faith in the finished work of Christ on Calvary, then we are saved!

Eph 2:8-9 For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast.

God doesn't want the lost sinner to give Him their hearts…He wants them to believe on Him.

Ac 16:31 And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house.

I. Our Heart Is Wicked

Jer 17:9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

A. No exceptions.

1. Some would say, "Surely God didn't include everyone here."

2. My grandmother has a heart of gold! My mother is a good woman!

3. But God doesn't discriminate.

4. He proclaims that 'all have sinned and come short of the glory of God'.

5. He tells us that 'there is none good, no not one.'

B. An illustration

I read of a man who had in his home a very beautiful and valuable clock. It had an exceedingly handsome case, a very fine set of works, a nice-appearing dial, and elegantly finished hands. It was altogether a good clock to look at, but it had one fault. It simply would not, or could not, keep time. It had been gone over by many different clock makers, but no one had been able to correct this fault. As a timepiece it was totally useless!

1. This is a perfect illustration of a person who has not been born again.

2. There may be much about them that others can admire, but they are unable to do the will of the Lord because their heart is estranged from God.

3. No matter how righteous they may appear in the eyes of others, because of their heart is not right with God…all their righteousness is as filthy rags in His sight.

Isa 64:6 But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.

C. God doesn't want us to give Him our wicked hearts, He wants to give us a new heart!

1. Only the new birth--regeneration by the Word and Spirit of God--can enable us to do His will.

2. If you have never placed your faith in Jesus Christ…and Christ alone…God's desire is that you do so today by faith.

3. When we come to Him in faith, He saves us and makes our hearts new.

2Co 5:17 Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.

II. What is Our Heart?

A. It is the center of our being.

1. We know the value of the physical organ.

2. It is central to our circulatory system…pumping the life giving blood to every area of our bodies.

3. I know first hand of the importance of a heart that is working properly.

B. But our Spiritual heart is just as important.

1. The word 'heart' is found in 823 verses in our English Bible.

2. Only a few places make reference to the physical organ of our bodies.

3. The rest have to do with our 'spiritual' hearts.

4. In fact, "heart" is the most frequently used Biblical term for man's complete inner, immaterial nature.

5. It is who we are…it is the seat of our emotions, our mind, and our will.

6. The heart is that part of us that controls our belief and behavior.

C. The heart described in Scripture.

1. Conscience:

"They were pricked in their heart" (Acts 2:37).

"If our heart condemn us not" (1 John 3:21).

2. Courage:

"He also that is valiant, whose heart is as the heart of a lion" (2 Samuel 17:10).

"Made the heart of the people melt" (Joshua 14:8).

3. Desire and Affections:

"Where your treasure is, there will your heart be also" (Matthew 6:21).

4. Emotions:

"Their hearts were merry" (Judges 16:25).

"My heart rejoiceth in the Lord" (1 Samuel 2:1).

"Joy of heart ... sorrow of heart" (Isaiah 65:14).

5. Inner Man:

"Man looketh on the outward appearance, but the Lord looketh on the heart" (1 Samuel 16:7).

"Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh" (Matthew 12:34).

"The hidden man of the heart" (1 Peter 3:4).

6. Place of Faith:

"Doubt in his heart" (Mark 11:23).

"With the heart man believeth unto righteousness" (Romans 10:10).

"Evil heart of unbelief" (Hebrews 3:12).

7. Standing With God:

"A pure heart" (Psalm 24:4).

"Create in me a clean heart" (Psalm 51:10).

"I the Lord search the heart" (Jeremiah 17:10).

"A wicked heart" (Proverbs 26:23).

8. Thoughts:

"Jesus knowing their thoughts said, Wherefore think ye evil in your hearts?" (Matthew 9:4).

"Reasoning in their hearts" (Mark 2:6).

9. Will:

"Whose heart made them willing" (Exodus 35:29).

"Exhorted them all, that with purpose of heart they should cleave unto the Lord" (Acts 11:23).

D. It is a place that only God can fill.

1. One person described it as a God-shaped void.

2. Where nothing will satisfy other than God Himself.

3. Hymn writer George Matheson wrote,

"My heart needs Thee, O Lord, my heart needs Thee! No part of my being needs Thee like my heart! All else within me can be filled by Thy gifts. My hunger can be satisfied by daily bread, my thirst by earthly waters, my cold by household fires, my weariness by outward rest. But no outward thing can purify my heart. This world has not provided for my heart. It has provided for my eye, my ear, my touch, my taste, my sense of beauty--but it has not provided for my heart. Provide Thou for my heart, O Lord!"

III. God Wants Our Heart.

A. This is about Lordship.

Pr 23:26 My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.

1. Who's in charge?

2. God desires for us to give Him our hearts…to give Him control of our very being.

3. This is what it means for Him to be our Lord.

4. He calls the shots…His will not our will

B. It isn't about saying, "He is my Lord." Lu 6:46 And why call ye me, Lord, Lord, and do not the things which I say?

1. Giving our hearts to God involves surrendering our will to His.

2. It is about living for Him…in obedience to His Word.

3. Too many want to give Him lip service, but He wants heart service!

Mt 15:8 This people draweth nigh unto me with their mouth, and honoureth me with their lips; but their heart is far from me.

C. Give your heart to Him today.

1. If you have never trusted Christ as Savior, accept Him by faith this morning…don't put it off!

2. If you have doubts, or are unsure about your relationship with Him…get it settled today!

3. If you are a believer…then He wants you to give Him your heart today…

4. Make Him the Lord of your life…