Enter My Heart

Scripture: Jeremiah 12:2b – “…you are near in their mouths yet far from their hearts.” (NRSVUE)

Do all Christians love God? This seems like a ridiculous question. Of course they love God! Otherwise, they wouldn’t be Christian! But is saying you are a Christian the same as truly being one? I think there are plenty of people who say they love Jesus and belong to churches but never let the love of Jesus enter their hearts. And when push comes to shove, they stumble in fear and cruelty.

Back in the days of the prophet Jeremiah, the people considered themselves very religious. A generation earlier, King Josiah had made massive religious reforms and recentered the faith of the people away from local shrines to the Temple in Jerusalem. This seemed to end centuries of idolatry that other prophets claimed doomed Israel to God’s wrath and destruction. Yet for Jeremiah, this wasn’t enough. Even though they prayed and sacrificed at the Temple, those prayers did not enter their hearts. They still abused the vulnerable and still trusted in the power of worldly nations instead of the power of God. As such, God’s wrath would be even more terrible than it had been before.

To be honest, reading prophets like Jeremiah can be tiresome; even he thought so. He was miserable speaking doom continuously to people that either ignored him or tried to silence him. But he was right that just being religious publicly does not necessarily make you a truly spiritual person. You need more than that.

How do you make your love of God more than a name you call yourself or words you use to pray? I think there are two signs. Does being a Christian change what you do, and does it change how you feel? If you go to church every Sunday, but still act the same as if you didn’t, perhaps God is still in your mouth and not your heart. If you pray every morning and evening, but still treat people with apathy or cruelty, God may still be far from you. And when you don’t have time to go to church or pray or when you see suffering and evil in your midst, does it hurt you? Can you just bury it inside, or does it cause you such pain you need to cry to God? Is there a fire of the Holy Spirit within that you cannot silence even if you want to? When this happens, it is a sign that God is in your heart. This is the difference between a category and a calling.

To be honest, not everyone feels that level of closeness to God all the time, but if you never feel that way, it may be time for a change. Perhaps start by doing those acts of mercy and love. Start doing random acts of kindness. Fake it until you make it. Make time for God in times of silence so God will be with you when things get crazy. Shout the name of God, but learn to feel it too, and God will never be far from you.

Prayer: Enter my heart, O Jesus, so that you may be my savior. Amen.