To enjoy the freedom of forgiveness we must surrender our hearts.
Proverbs 4:23. “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.”
The meaningful precious things, the pain of experience, the joy of love; the secrets that we feel are ours only, or sometimes a confidentiality that we don’t even wish to admit to our own minds; these and countless other emotions and experiences lie deep within our hearts.
To find the freedom of accepting Jesus in our life we surrender our heart. We often hear of joy and peace as never felt before resulting from that surrender. We have given the very thing we were told to “keep with all diligence” to Jesus, the one who died on the cross for our redemption! And the result is a new outlook, a new life, and a distaste and disregard for various attitudes and possessions we once felt were essential to happiness. Free, free as never before.
The apostle Paul writes in Philippians 3:13b & 14 “13b…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, 14 I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus.”
The Bible, the divine word of God is a book of History. In it are recorded incomprehensible volumes of fact. Real life stories. Stories of victory, stories of defeat. Wins. Losses. You name it.
My friends. The current volume of history (if it is possible to have current history) is written by you and I. When we “live”, we can either share life, or we can keep it in a lock-protected place, where we consider it safe. We can either communicate to others the secrets of our own journey, or we can choose to keep them hidden. Our book can be open so others can take comfort in the knowledge that they are not alone. Or we can, like the Pharisees, keep every detail of the law with precision, wagging our beards or chins with accolades for our own “truths”. We can look with concern on the pathetic souls that need help and walk on the other side of the road. Or we can open our heart. In it are hidden the good, the bad and the ugly.
We are now on common ground. We are understood. Don’t kid yourselves. Few people will acknowledge that they understand, because they still have a lock on their heart. But friends, they understand. Maybe not in full, but heart-to-heart always blends.
That’s why we keep our heart with all diligence. We treasure it. We protect it from defilement and we share it with others because we are unworthy!
Open wide your heart. Throw away the key!
