“Then Joshua stated to the individuals, ‘You’re witnesses in opposition to yourselves that you’ve chosen the Lord, to serve him.’ And so they stated, ‘We’re witnesses.’ He stated, ‘Then put away the overseas gods which are amongst you, and incline your coronary heart to the Lord, the God of Israel’ ” (Joshua 24:22,23).
HAVING CHALLENGED ISRAEL TO CHOOSE WHETHER THEY WOULD SERVE GOD, JOSHUA THEN CALLED ON THEM TO PUT THEIR CHOICE INTO ACTION. If it’s your choice to serve God, Joshua stated, then “incline your coronary heart to the Lord, the God of Israel.”
That could be a highly effective manner of placing it, is it not? Incline your coronary heart to the Lord. The NIrV renders it “Give yourselves utterly to the Lord,” and the CEV, “You could resolve as soon as and for all that you simply actually need to obey the Lord God of Israel.” In a associated textual content, we learn of David’s cost to Israel on the finish of his life: “Now set your thoughts and coronary heart to hunt the Lord your God” (1 Chronicles 22:19). In all such passages, we hear God commanding His individuals to think about Him as greater than a “perhaps.” Their hearts should be inclined to Him. They have to repair their minds on Him. They have to — and right here is the primary concept — be devoted to Him. This devotion should be the results of a aware, deliberate selection they’ve made.
After all, there may be language within the Scriptures the place God is the one who’s requested to incline the hearts of His individuals. For instance, “Might [the Lord] . . . incline our hearts to him, to stroll in all his methods and to maintain his commandments, his statutes, and his guidelines” (1 Kings 8:57,58). And, “O Lord, . . . maintain ceaselessly such functions and ideas within the hearts of your individuals, and direct their hearts towards you” (1 Chronicles 29:18). There isn’t a contradiction right here. God will assist us and encompass us with good influences, however it’s we who should make the choice. Ultimately, solely we now have the ability to resolve what (or Whom) we are going to incline our hearts to.
If we’re deciding whether or not to obey the gospel of Christ, that is what all of it comes all the way down to: having alienated ourselves from God, will we or gained’t we give Him again our final loyalty? Had we by no means sinned, He would have at all times had our loyalty. However now, in Christ, He’s making it attainable for us to “incline our hearts” to Him as soon as once more. That is excellent news, a lot too good to not embrace enthusiastically.
“It’s however proper that our hearts needs to be on God, when the center of God is a lot on us” (Richard Baxter).
Gary Henry — WordPoints.com + AreYouaChristian.com
