Perfect heart

But the high places were not taken away out of Israel: nevertheless the heart of Asa was perfect all his days. II Chronicles 15:17

Who wouldn’t want a perfect heart? Albert Barnes says, “not that Asa was sinless but that he was free from the sin of idolatry and continued faithful to Yahweh all his life.”

Staying away from idolatry is half the battle. Is idolatry common today? I would say a resounding YES. Unfortunately most of us don’t consider certain things idols.

What is an idol? An idol is anything one puts before God.

Webster’s dictionary:
Idol
1. The worship of a physical object as a god
2. Immoderate attachment of devotion to something

Worship
1. A person of importance —used as a title for various officials (as magistrates and some mayors)
2. Reverence offered a divine being or supernatural power; also: an act of expressing such reverence
3. A form of religious practice with its creed and ritual
4. Extravagant respect or admiration for or devotion to an object of esteem

I know I have been guilty of this more times that I would like to admit. What are some of the items we can put before God?

Here is the short list:
~ Job
~ Children/spouse
~ TV
~ Books
~ Money

We need to keep this in mind at all times. Be careful not to put anything before God. The only way to have a “perfect heart” before God is to put Him first in everything.

Have a blessed day,
Donna

Perfect heart

And he did that which was right in the sight of the LORD, but not with a perfect heart. II Chronicles 25:2

Amaziah was king for twenty nine years. He did the right thing but not with a perfect (complete) heart. I was pricked in my heart when I read this. I do lots of “right” things but how is my heart. The Lord looks at the “heart”. He looks deep inside to see our motives. I’m sure He is pleased when we do the right thing, but that is not the most important thing to God.

Sometimes we do the right things out of habit. We are so busy doing what we do that we just do things haphazardly without giving God a second thought. We need to make sure our heart is perfect before God.

Keep your heart in tune with God by confessing sin – all sin, praying daily, and reading your Bible. Check yourself and make sure you are not just doing these things mechanically, but with the perfect heart attitude. Be careful of your motives. Why are you doing the things you do?

Have a blessed day,
Donna