Lift our hearts up to the Lord?
In some Christian cultures, pastors will ask the congregation from time to time something that demands our response. Most of the time, unfortunately, and if we are being honest with ourselves, it has become rote and has lost meaning in the chant with which we respond. For example,
“Lift up your hearts. “ and, we say,
“We lift them up to the Lord. “
Do we really do this and what does it mean to do so in the first place?
The act of lifting your heart up to our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ is not just saying it— you are called to do it.
In order to do this we must first understand what our spiritual heart is all about. It’s not human anatomy, and it’s not to be confused your mind or soul.
Consider what Jesus said is the greatest law of all. See Matthew 22:34-40. Jesus was asked this by a student of the Jewish law, the Old Testament as we refer to it today. Jesus responded with the following:
You shall love God with all your mind, heart and soul.
Jesus wasn’t talking about your anatomy. He was talking about your entire spirituality, your entire being, the very power inside that God gave you. I’m not going to talk about your spiritual mind and soul today as we concentrate on your spiritual heart.
Your spiritual heart is simply your motivation. What drives you. Some have popularized the saying, “it’s your why”.
Now, consider the notion of loving God with all your motivations, where every motivation, every reason, every “why” is oriented and aligned with God. In this case you are making good decisions and taking good actions.
For the good Christian, in order to love God with all our heart, we must listen to our conscience and act accordingly.
I challenge you to examine your motivations and take deliberate steps to lift them up to the Lord today!
Once your motivations become aligned with your Christian conscience and God’s purpose, you will be amazed at the joy and energy you will have. You will feel like a true Christian Spiritual superhero in God’s Kingdom on earth.
God Bless!
Jim
