Hearts Like His

Fresh fruit is nice! No matter how much you examine it, squeeze it, smell it or turn it over in your hands, you can never be absolutely sure what it's like on the inside. Have you ever wondered why God speaks so frequently and candidly in Scripture about the heart of man? "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." (Proverbs 4:23). Just like that piece of fruit, the inside is what counts most. God chose young David to be king because he was a man after God's own heart (1 Samuel 13:14). Because the heart is deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9), it is the heart God searches and tests (Jeremiah 17:10); it is the heart God weighs (Proverbs 21;2). Just as sin is an "inside job," so will be the redeeming work of Christ in the heart of man. Later in King David's life, when he got a good look at the sinfulness of his heart, he prayed, "Wash me thoroughly ... and cleans me from my sin ... Purify me ... Wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow ... Create in me a clean heart, O God." (Psalm 51:2,7,10). That piece of fruit is-what-it-is and will be nothing less, nothing more. Praise The Lord! this is not so with the hearts of man; humbled and repentant hearts are transformed by God through Jesus to be ... yes, hearts like His.