Gaining the Heart of GodSample

Day Seven: An Open Heart

God wants to give you extravagant, at times laughable, abundance! The tension is that some of us have hardened hearts that resist that kind of outpouring. The way to clear away that rocky ground where roots don’t go deep, is through confession and wrestling. The invitation from God is that you don’t have to perfect yourself or manage your sin before you open up to him about it.

Perhaps you once had a heart for service, but somewhere along the way that’s been covered by the pursuit of luxury. Jesus’ words warn us about how anxiety and riches can stifle new growth. There was a day in your life when you dreamed of radically serving other people in a particular way. Now, you have moved that desire into a corner of your heart, displaced by the pursuit of serving yourself. Today is the day to confess that and revive those dreams.

Some of you are sitting down in your doubt and accepting where it is. The polar opposite of that is wrestling. Be honest with God. Don’t sit there in your doubt anymore. Because on the other side of doubt is deep faith when you wrestle to know God and his Word. Reach out with your thoughts and fears to God, like roots pushing through hard ground to water. Like a tree planted by streams of water, you will find an abundant life of faith.

So, why would we do any of this confessing and wrestling? Why do the hard work of plowing the heart? It would be infinitely more comfortable to suppress the call of God and move on with life. Sometimes we don’t want what we need. But this cynicism toward God means we forfeit fruitfulness and his love. Can we live with that? We’ve spent time diagnosing our hearts. We’ve opened our ears to hear the Word that God has sown, but he must give the growth. How will you respond?

Reflection: While we are plowing the unbroken soil of our hearts, God is opening us up with his power. Do you trust in his amazing love and power to change you?

Prayer: "God, we are following your words, Please come and make your home with us. We look for your abundant love! Amen."

This reading plan is adapted from "Breaking Up the Unplowed Ground" which can be listened to at https://lumo.onl/butug.