Preparing Our Hearts to Seek the Lord
The heart is the key to our lives. The heart is where we make choices. Since God gave us the freedom of choice, that makes the heart essential in knowing God and doing His will. If we allow our hearts to drift, Satan will direct our hearts away from God, and we will make wrong choices, which are sins. Then, the sins will lead us to destruction. That is what happened to King Rehoboam. He failed to do God's will because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. (II Chronicles 12:14) We must not make the same mistake.
The first decision Rehoboam made as king was wrong, because he sought advice from his father's advisers and from the younger advisers, his own age, but he did not seek the Lord. That happened, because he did not make it a habit to prepare his heart to seek the Lord. He did not get defeated in battle after that because God sent a prophet to warn him not to go to battle. God was merciful, or he would have done the wrong thing again, because of an unprepared heart. Finally, when God had blessed the kingdom of Judah and things were going well, he departed from the Lord and did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. That brought him and the people into servitude to the king of Egypt.
Therefore, we must learn from this stark reality and make it a priority to prepare our hearts daily to seek the Lord. If we will be faithful to have a heart that is soft and ready to hear, then, He will show us Himself and His will. We will hear from God, and we can make the right choices. That will lead to an abundant life, as we follow the Lord Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 13-15.
The first decision Rehoboam made as king was wrong, because he sought advice from his father's advisers and from the younger advisers, his own age, but he did not seek the Lord. That happened, because he did not make it a habit to prepare his heart to seek the Lord. He did not get defeated in battle after that because God sent a prophet to warn him not to go to battle. God was merciful, or he would have done the wrong thing again, because of an unprepared heart. Finally, when God had blessed the kingdom of Judah and things were going well, he departed from the Lord and did evil, because he did not prepare his heart to seek the Lord. That brought him and the people into servitude to the king of Egypt.
Therefore, we must learn from this stark reality and make it a priority to prepare our hearts daily to seek the Lord. If we will be faithful to have a heart that is soft and ready to hear, then, He will show us Himself and His will. We will hear from God, and we can make the right choices. That will lead to an abundant life, as we follow the Lord Jesus, our Lord and Savior.
Tomorrow, I intend to read II Chronicles 13-15.