FAITH CAPSULE: Be diligent to keep your heart as your house for God in your life.
Nehemiah 1, 2
Heart of man will identify man before God. Man, that plays the role of lying, deceiving and manipulating man is not hidden from God the only perfect creator of all. In the heart, man that is set for good is good before God and man that is set for doing bad is not hidden from God. What do you carry in your inside? God cannot be deceived. Be genuine to be good in your doing because God is never asleep but sees you continually.
Nehemiah’s heart was genuine with his concern for Jerusalem’s welfare and its inhabitants. God saw Nehemiah’s heart and He acknowledged him. God in His awesomeness invested in him as a vessel for reconstructing the broken wall of Jerusalem. The report of what was going on in Jerusalem caused a burden in Nehemiah’s heart and he began to intercede on behalf of the land and his people. The bible recorded in Nehemiah 1:3-4, “And they said to me, ‘The survivors who are left from the captivity in the province are there in great distress and reproach. The wall of Jerusalem is also broken down, and its gates are burned with fire.’ So it was, when I heard these words that I sat down and wept, and mourned for many days; I was fasting and praying before the God of heaven.” Nehemiah poured out his heart in prayer on behalf of his people and his homeland. Nehemiah had no hidden agenda to gain for himself but rather petitioned for things that had to do with a better life for his people. Nehemiah was selfless but mindful for his people which is the evidence that his heart was in line with what God was looking from man.
What is it about heart? Here are some scriptural verses of what the bible has to say about the heart:
Psalm 44:21, “…God knows the secret of the heart.”
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9)
“The spirit of a man is the lamp of the Lord, searching all the inner depths of his heart.” (Proverbs 20:27) Ecclesiastes 8:11 stated, “Because the sentence against an evil work is not executed speedily, therefore the heart of the sons of men is fully set in them to do evil.” The bible identifies the fool, in Psalm 14:1, “The fool has said in his heart, “There is no God…”
The bible recorded, “As in water face reflects face, so a man’s heart reveals the man.” (Proverbs 27:19)
It was heart that revealed Nehemiah’s identity before God. Truly, taking to the warning in the word of God is to excel for His glory. Proverbs 4:23 warned us, “Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” Be diligent to keep your heart as your house for God in your life.
Prayer for today: Ask for the grace to set your heart continually before God.