The Kind of Heart God Seeks!

26For who is there of all flesh who has heard the voice of the living God speaking out of the midst of fire, as we have, and lived?
27Go near [Moses] and hear all that the Lord our God will say. And speak to us all that the Lord our God will speak to you; and we will hear and do it.
28And the Lord heard your words when you spoke to me and the Lord said to me, I have heard the words of this people which they have spoken to you. They have said well all that they have spoken.

29Oh, that they had such a [mind and] heart in them always [reverently] to fear Me and keep all My commandments, that it might go well with them and with their children forever!
30Go and say to them, Return to your tents.Deuteronomy 5:26-30 (AMP)

In this account we hear the words of the children of Israel speaking to Moses concerning hearing the voice of God. The people were in awe that they had heard the voice of God in the fire, and they made a conscious decision that they did not need to hear Him again! They told Moses, you can go and hear Him, and then come back and tell us what He says – and we will do it!

Moses took this to God and God spoke to Him and told him that what the people said was right – but God added His thought – “”Oh that they had such a heart in them that they would fear Me and always keep all my commandments”.

This is what God desires from us, to have a heart that follows His directives and if we have that heart, “it will be well with us and with our children forever”!

I hear the melody of a contemporary gospel song that says just that:

” A heart like yours is my desire..give me a heart like yours.”

The children of Israel felt that it would be an easy thing to hear from Moses what God wanted them to do – we all know it didn’t play out that way. Hard-hearts and stiff-necks among the children of Israel resulted in only two going into the promise land that left Egypt forty years before!

Is having a heart that seeks to obey God hard, or is it that we won’t allow the Holy Spirit to soften our hard hearts to allow Him to do what needs to be done so that we can obey Him.

You and I both know the answer to that one, “His yoke is easy, and His burdens are light;” “the way of the transgressor is hard.” It is not hard to obey God, what is hard is not obeying God. It is a small thing to humble ourselves and allow God to govern our actions, what is hard is deciding to do it our way.

This is Holy Week in the Christian community. As we prepare for the celebration of the Resurrection of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, it is a good time to do a heart check!

God Bless You,
Maria