«

A Ready Heart

February 15, 2010

Sow with a view to righteousness, reap in accordance with kindness; break up your fallow ground, for it is time to seek the Lord until He comes to rain righteousness on you. Hosea 10:12

In 2010, God is calling us to remove obstacles. He wants to rain down righteousness, but in order to receive it we must break up any hard ground in our hearts. The ground becomes hard when it’s trampled. In the same way, life can make our hearts harden so that fresh rain runs off instead of entering the soil of the heart. A tender heart is absorbent.

Water is essential to life. In Genesis, the Philistines filled Isaac’s wells with dirt, which stopped them up and blocked the flow of life-giving water. Isaac had to work at re-digging the wells until he finally reached a place where water flowed and he could live in peace.

He went on from there and dug yet another well. But there was no fighting over this one so he named it Rehoboth (Wide-Open Spaces), saying, “Now God has given us plenty of space to spread out in the land.” Genesis 26:22 The Message*

Just as Isaac literally dug wells to restart the flow of life-giving water, God is asking us to break up the fallow ground in our hearts to clear the way for His flow of life. Analyze the places where the enemy has thrown dirt down your wells and cultivate your heart with all diligence (Proverbs 4:23). Bitterness, hurt, and the flesh can clog up your heart. Be careful what you watch and listen to, and bridle your tongue. There is so much at stake!

The world doesn’t need your limited human resourcefulness; it needs living water flowing out of you. You are designed by God to be a dispenser of wisdom, an answer to someone’s problem, help for the hurting, and a carrier of the presence of God. Believers are designed to be conduits of God’s love and care. Jesus said, “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture said, ‘From his innermost being will flow rivers of living water’” (John 7:38). Clear out the obstacles and let rivers of living water flow through you!

Press On!
Pastor Jeff

Copyright © 2010 St. Louis Family Church. All rights reserved. No part of this article may be reprinted or distributed in any form without prior written permission of St. Louis Family Church. Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture references are from the New American Standard Bible (NASB) Copyright © 1960, 1962, 1963, 1968, 1971, 1972, 1973, 1975, 1977, 1995 by The Lockman Foundation. *Scripture taken from The Message. Copyright 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.