Today is Valentine’s Day, a day of hearts and love.  When we see a heart we normally think “love.”  We think good things. We think happy thoughts.

It’s not always true!  There are sad hearts as well as glad hearts, broken hearts as well as healed hearts.

If you are reading this you have a pumping, thumping heart.  It’s what keeps us alive.  When the heart stops we stop dead in our tracks.  We pay special attention to our hearts.  When we exercise our heart rate goes up, if it gets too slow — watch out!  If it beats erratically we go see the doctor.

What IS the heart?  It’s not just our physical pump, but it encompasses our will, emotions, thoughts … along with our soul it is who we ARE!

What can we do to protect our heart?  Spiritually speaking, first we must recognize that our hearts are inherently evil.  God made us in His image but we forfeited that in the Garden of Eden and “the Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Genesis 6:5).  Our hearts have been deceived and have turned us aside from God (Isaiah 44:20).

God wants our whole heart.  He has promised that those who seek Him with their WHOLE heart will find Him! (Jeremiah 29:13).  I Kings 8:58, “Let your heart therefore be wholly true to the Lord our God, walking in his statutes and keeping his commandments …”

Audrey Mieir wrote a song: “All He wants is you, no one else will do.  Not just a part, He wants ALL of your heart.  All He wants is all of you, all He wants is you.”

The word “heart” is mentioned over 800 times in the Bible plus words like brokenhearted, fainthearted, hard hearted, stiff hearted, stout hearted then good ones like merry hearted and tenderhearted!

Here are a few “hearts” to check out and see where you rank …

Blameless or condemned
Confident or courageless
Deceitful or delighted
Fixed or foolish
Glad or grieving
Happy or hard
Loving and loyal or lost
Meditative and merry
Obedient or obstinate
Pure or Perverse
Rejoicing or restless
Steadfast or stony & stubborn
Tender & true or trembling
Upright or unfeeling
Wise or wicked

Ernie Haase wrote a song that I sing and framed for my granddaughter, Roni … “God give this child a good heart, God give this child a good heart.  One that cares for the weak, one that hears when You speak, a heart that will make You smile. God give this child a good heart.”

Here are the words to a song that should become our prayer …

GIVE ME A HEART LIKE THINE

Give me a heart like Thine
Give me a heart that knows no fear
Give me the grace to do Thy will
Pardon and cleanse this home of mine
Lord give me a heart like This

How is your heart today?