How Are You?

Pearl is a mum and an architect working from home in Birmingham

1 Samuel chapter 16:7 (NIV) 
Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.

'How are you?' We hear these three words spoken so often – when bumping into an old friend on a walk, by the lady at the till in the supermarket… but these words used so superficially are really a ‘heart-check’ question…

In the letter to the Hebrews the word for 'heart' is also used to describe ‘the inner person’, Everything we think, speak and do, flows from that inner place – the Bible uses many words to describe this same place – mind, soul, spirit and heart.

In 1 Samuel chapter 16, God told Samuel that he had chosen one of Jesse’s sons to be the new king over Israel (after Saul). Samuel, then seeing David’s handsome older brother Eliab, assumed that he was the chosen one as he prepared to anoint the new king. But God redirected Samuel to young David: Scripture comments: 'People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart’

 I have had a picture of my own heart being like a small room that I look down into—in perhaps a similar way that God can see into all our hearts. Sometimes, this little ‘room’ can get dark as worries have allowed fears in, hurts have resurfaced, and bitterness and anger—seemingly so justified—have cluttered the space. These things steal my focus, change my motives, and lead my heart away from God.

This ‘room’ of mine needs constant cleaning, and the door to this ‘room’ needs constant guarding. Then, through the power of the Holy Spirit, God can have my heart in its entirety so that he can align all of me with his ways.

Prayer—Precious Jesus, as I seek after you, help me to be mindful of what I allow into my thinking, my life, and my heart. Help me reduce my heart clutter so that you can increase and fill my heart with your purpose, your peace, and your joy.