Strike The Match!

When we return to God, it is to be with the whole extent of our being.   ~~~   “return with all your heart” 1 Samuel 7:3 makes it clear that biblical repentance is a returning with all your heart. What does he mean when he refers to the heart? We must be clear here, because in our day, we associate the heart with love, emotion, romance. But that is not what Samuel is referring to. In biblical literature the heart is the most frequently used term for man’s immaterial personality functions as well as the most inclusive term for them since, in the Bible, virtually every immaterial function of man is attributed to the “heart.” Bowling, A. (1999). 1071 לָבַב. R. L. Harris, G. L. Archer Jr., & B. K. Waltke (Eds.), Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament (electronic ed., p. 466). Chicago: Moody Press. In other words, when the Bible refers to the “heart of man,” it is often times referring to the mind, the will, and the emotions..the whole personality of a person. If you are returning to the LORD with the whole of your mind, the whole of your will, and the whole of your emotions, then it will show up in tangible ways in your life. Your trash can will be filling up. Your calendar will be clearing out. Your attitude will be changing. Repentance calls for you to bring out the gasoline and matches to burn down the gods and idols in your life.