|
The Tender Heart
A. Speaking to King Josiah in 2 Kgs. 22:19, God said, "Because
your heart was tender, and you humbled yourself before the Lord
when you heard what I spoke against this place and against its
inhabitants, that they would become a desolation and a curse,
and you tore your clothes and wept before Me, I also have heard
you," says the Lord.”
1. One major axiom in life is that our choices determine our character.
And the most critical choice we make in life is whether or not
we will have a heart that is "tender" with respect to
God and His Word. Although we have minds that are capable of knowing
God, that knowledge about God is not automatic. In Jno. 4:23-24.
Jesus said, “A time is coming and has now come when the true
worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they
are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is spirit, and
his worshipers must worship in spirit and in truth."
a. To find God we must seek Him. Matt. 7:7, “Ask and it will
be given to
you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened
to you.” To
find God you have to desire Him enough to seek Him openly and
fervently.
b. We have to choose to be receptive and responsive. King Josiah
made such a choice, and it’ a wonderful thing that God said
about him: "You humbled yourself . . . when you heard what
I spoke." On the other hand, there’s no sadder verdict
than the one pronounced by God upon certain people in Isaiah's
day: "When I called, you did not answer; when I spoke, you
did not hear," Isa. 65:12. To fail to respond to God is a
serious failure.
2. "Impressionable." That’s what the tender heart
is. Like clay that is soft enough to receive an impression. The
tender heart is capable of being "impressed," or influenced,
by God. The tender heart feels and responds naturally. The tender
heart can be touched. It is moved by the things it should be moved
by.
a. To have such a heart is to have chosen to be responsive to
God and receptive to the words He has spoken. May you always have
such a heart.
b. Acts 20:32.
Spur - 05/25/03 pm
|
