Gold Nugget
Verse 9: “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.”
Commentary
In the devotion, Garbage in Garbage Out , we discussed how whatever we put in our hearts will be what will come out of it. The desires of that heart are known by the Lord. I’ve heard many references to the scripture that says, “Delight yourself also in the LORD, and He shall give you the desires of your heart.”(Psalm 37:4) It is often used improperly as justification to pacify our desires. The problem is not all of our desires are of the Lord. Many stem from our flesh and God is not obligated to give you these things you desire. For one, the scripture says first to “Delight yourself also in the LORD” This means we find delight in the things He wants and desires. Then when we desire things they mirror His desires and are sure to come to pass. Another thing that “links” with the truth that He gives you the desires of your “heart” is the fact that He should have already created in you a New Heart. “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”(Psalm 51:10) This means the desires of your new heart is filled with His desires and desires for Him. The desires (lust) of the flesh are not included in this formula and will not be honored by God. What it boils down to is - our “heart transplant” includes new “heart contents”. This replaces our fleshy heart that contains fleshly desires with a new heart that contains desires for and of God. While we’re here, continuing with this logic, we find another scripture in James 3:8 “But no man can tame the tongue. It is an unruly evil, full of deadly poison.” As true as this is, it isn’t an excuse to say what you want without accountability. Remembering what we read in Garbage in Garbage Out , we learned that Jesus said, “out of the abundance of the heart a man’s mouth speaks.” So the tongue really only reflects the “contents” of the heart. Since now that we have a new heart with godly contents we don’t have to worry about the fact that the tongue cannot be controlled. What the mouth speaks will be of a godly nature. Now for those that are claiming to have a new heart and yet are able to keep the gospel from coming out of this uncontrollable tongue, we see that just isn’t possible. We sum it all up with today’s “gold nugget”, “A man’s heart plans his way, but the LORD directs his steps.” Once we are given a new heart and it is filled with new contents, we will be equipped to plan our way with the Lord directing our steps. The great thing about that is the fact that He equips us with what we need to do the right thing and yet still doesn’t force us. He’s directing us. It is a beautiful agreement of motions. This is what we call a relationship. If this doesn't describe your relati0nship with God, look over these connections again and find what piece you may be missing.
Prayer
Lord, I love this interaction between us. When we put your truths in order and walk in them, it is as beautiful as a dance with you. Sometimes we just need to improve on our steps and get in rhythm with you. Amen
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