Heart of the Matter

Greetings everyone, as I return from my sabbatical!  I hope this finds you well as you continue walking with the Lord.  I had a full sabbatical with a lot of different activities, responsibilities, and experiences which I hope to share more about in the future.  But one of the things I did during my sabbatical was read and meditate on the Book of Ecclesiastes.  Now Ecclesiastes is a challenging book to interpret, but it was meaningful for me as the book touched upon important topics such as life, death, seasons, wisdom, and God's sovereignty.  One of the many lessons that stood out to me is that God is not impressed by appearances and oftentimes even our words.  I think we know this already but when God looks at us, He sees first and foremost our hearts.  

Ecclesiastes 5:1-3 says, "Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. Go near to listen rather than to offer the sacrifice of fools, who do not know that they do wrong. Do not be quick with your mouth, do not be hasty in your heart to utter anything before God. God is in heaven and you are on earth, so let your words be few."  This warns us of being too quick to tell God what we think He wants to hear before just listening to Him.  When a friend had learned what I was studying during my sabbatical, he gave me a book on Ecclesiastes entitled "Living Life Backwards" (by David Gibson).  In one part, the author writes, "Someone has said that when we pray, we tend to think it's like talking into a spiritual microphone with God listening on the other end through a set of heavenly earphones. But, in fact, when we pray, God is listening to us with a spiritual stethoscope. Just like the doctor who says, 'Let me hear you breathe,' and he listens in to what we cannot see and so learns the truth about us."    

God sees what we cannot.  Coming out of sabbatical, I hope to be a better listener before God, and have my heart shaped by Him.  Wouldn't you?  Where Ecclesiastes says "guard your steps," it reminds me of Proverbs 4:23 which says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."  As we continue our walk with the Lord together, may He help us to listen to His voice and to submit our hearts to Him.

God bless,
Pastor Darren