Heart in the Bible

I've been reading a book about emotional health in the church.  Truthfully, I did not want to like this book.  The first time I picked it up, it was with rolling eyes.  After all, if we focus on doctrinal beliefs and how to apply those to our everyday actions, isn't that what really matters?

As it turns out, no, that is not all that really matters.

The Bible talks a lot about the heart.  For example, the Sermon on the Mount is filled with "You have heard it said [behavior], but I tell you [about the underlying heart issue]."  It addresses such topics as worry, grief, and anger.  Paul's famous description of love in I Corinthians 13 includes many feeling words.  And, of course, the Psalms give voice to a tremendous variety of human emotion.

Scazzero's writing has been challenging me quite a bit lately.  My tendency, like many in the Church, is to focus on intellect and behavior while neglecting the heart.  But to refuse to bring my emotional side to God for examination is to make a part of myself off-limits to God, closing myself off to His sanctifying work.

Bringing Gifts

When I was a child, we used to cut the annual gift catalogs into strips and make colorful paper-chain garland out of them.  Such mess-making destruction was normally frowned upon, so it felt like a fabulously fun privilege, and a little artsy, too.  Looking back now, I like the symbolism of creating nearly-free tree decorations while destroying catalogs intended to entice us toward spending money.

When I was a child, I learned the story of Christmas.  We heard about Mary and Joseph, the innkeeper, the shepherds, and various other characters.  (Of the various parts I played in the various Christmas plays, my favorite was the camel.  I don't remember whether it was a talking camel, but it was definitely a singing one.)

Among the characters of Christmas were the Magi, a.k.a. Wise Men.  Christmas plays usually showed three of them, each carrying a gift to Jesus -- gold, incense, and myrrh.  When I was a child, I didn't understand this.  I thought about the toys in the Christmas catalogs, and the "wise men" didn't seem too smart to me.  After all, who gives perfume and embalming materials to an infant?

As an adult, though, I have learned some of the symbolism and value of those gifts, and realize they were far more significant than a fun plastic toy.  In addition to their practical value for a struggling family, they were appropriate gifts for the King and foreshadowed the sacrificial death of Jesus.

As we were talking about getting ready for Christmas, a friend of mine described wanting to offer a gift to Jesus, like the Wise Men did.  It brought up the question: What would be an appropriate and desirable gift for the King?  This friend of mine talked personally about a shift in attitude that would be a very good gift for Christ this year.  When I was a child, I may have suggested a gift that was flashier, more fun, because "When I was a child, I talked like a child, I thought like a child, I reasoned like a child..." (I Corinthians 13:11)

When I was a child, I did not recognize the value of the gifts brought by the Magi many years ago, or by my friend more recently.  As as adult, though, as I approach God in this Advent season, I want to give the gift of genuine love described in I Corinthians 13:  "Love is patient, love is kind.  It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.  It is not rude, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.  Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.  It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.  Love never fails..."

Love for his people -- all people -- is a great gift for our King.