In so many stories of conflict in the Old Testament, the real war is fought more in the heart than on the battlefield.  In the above situation, King Ahaz of Judah was under attack from both the king of Aram and the king of Israel, and though he was able to resist them, he started losing heart.  God came to the rescue in his inimitable style – by sending his word, in this instance by Isaiah the prophet.  God told Ahaz:

“‘Be careful, keep calm and don’t be afraid.  Do not lose heart because of these two smoldering stubs of firewood – because of the fierce anger of Rezin and Aram and of the son of Remaliah.” (Isa 7:4, NIV)

In war, as in life, it seems one of the most important things God warns his people against is losing heart.  He says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Prov 4:23, NIV)

Earlier in their history, at a crucial point, the Israelites lost heart – and lost so much else besides.   They were on the verge of entering the Promised Land, God having just delivered them from Egypt with a show of his might and power.   But when the Israelites heard a discouraging report from their spies about the Promised Land and its formidable inhabitants, they cried:

“Where can we go?  Our brothers have made us lose heart.  They say, ‘The people are stronger and taller than we are; the cities are large, with walls up to the sky…” (Deut 1:28, NIV)

The Israelites lost heart, and their trust in God – and so lost the war before it began.    They spent the next 40 years wandering in the wilderness before they returned again to the Promised Land to gain what God had given them from the start.

When the Israelites finally settled in the Promised Land, Saul became their first king, and he faced a similar struggle against discouragement.  Goliath taunted his army so that they were “dismayed and terrified.” (1 Sam 17:11, NIV)  When David comes to the rescue of the Israelite army, he says to King Saul, “Let no one lose heart on account of this Philistine; your servant will go and fight him.” (1 Sam 17:32, NIV)

What David did for the Israelite army – fighting on their behalf to conquer the enemy they couldn’t – Jesus did for us.  And so we hear Jesus saying something similar to his disciples: “…In this world you will have trouble.  But take heart!  I have overcome the world.”  (Jn 16:33, NIV)

So whatever it is, don’t lose heart.

“Let us fix our eyes on Jesus, the author and perfecter of our faith…  Consider him who endured such opposition from sinful men, so that you will not grow weary and lose heart.” (Heb 12:2-3, NIV)

– Joey

“For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep doing.” (Rom 7:19, NIV)

It’s a bit of a relief to hear that such a great man of God still struggled with sin.  But too often we just stop there, content to know that this internal struggle is common to everyone.  In fact, there’s more.

In the midst of describing his internal struggle with sin, Paul makes a crucial distinction.  He says:

“As it is, it is no longer I myself who do it, but it is sin living in me.  I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature…” (Rom 7:17-18, NIV)

“Now if I do what I do not want to do, it is no longer I who do it, but it is sin living in me that does it… For in my inner being I delight in God’s law;” (Rom 7:20 & 22, NIV)

Like Paul, our sinful nature – where sin lives and from which sin oozes out – is not the true us.  On the contrary, our true self – our inner being – delights in God’s law (the law of the Spirit of life, as mentioned in Rom 8:2).  And though these two natures are at constant war, it’s the sinful nature that’s the foreigner, the impostor – the one that doesn’t belong.

Of course, this doesn’t absolve us of our sin, or of our need to repent.  But understanding this gives us a clearer picture of who we are as Christians, despite the sin that clings on like dead skin.

Jesus illustrated it in another way when he washed his disciples’ feet (Jn 13:8-10, NIV):

“‘No,’ said Peter, ‘you shall never wash my feet.’

Jesus answered, ‘Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.’

‘Then, Lord,’ Simon Peter replied, ‘not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!’

Jesus answered, ‘A person who has had a bath needs only to wash his feet; his whole body is clean.  And you are clean…’”

What Peter said sounded very humble and holy – “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!” – but he missed the point.  He only needed his feet washed.  It’s the same when we become Christians: we are bathed, washed completely.  Sure, we sin and we get dirty, but it’s just our feet that need washing.  If Jesus declared Peter clean, who would shortly go out and deny him three times, perhaps we too are clean.  And if God has made us – our hearts – clean, can we deny him his glory?

“…Do not call anything impure that God has made clean.”  (Acts 10:15, NIV)

– Joey

“You will seek me [God] and find me when you seek me with all your heart.” (Jer 29:13, NIV)
“Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” (Deut 6:5, NIV)

More than anything else, it’s the heart that God’s interested in – after all, it’s who a person really is.  Someone who has a generous heart is, by necessity, generous, while someone with a deceitful heart is, well, deceitful.  How we see our hearts, then, is how we see ourselves – Prov 27:19 says, “As water reflects a face, so a man’s heart reflects the man.” (NIV)

Many people view their heart based on a verse from Jeremiah:
“The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?” (Jer 17:9, NIV)

That’s not a very consoling thought; in fact, it’s somewhat bleak.  Because if our hearts are ‘beyond cure’, what hope do we have?

But God’s answer to a deceitful heart has always been, and still is, in a sense, a heart transplant.  He says to the Israelites in the book of Ezekiel:

“I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.” (Eze 11:19, NIV)
“Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit…” (Eze 18:31, NIV)

A new heart and a new spirit are at the start of our transformation into new life.  For whoever is in Christ “… is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  (2 Cor 5:17, NIV)  That includes a new heart – and a good one at that, which we’ll need if we’re going to grow in God.

Jesus confirmed the possibility, and indeed the necessity, of us having a good heart when he explained the Parable of the Sower.  Without a such a heart, we would not be able to take in and understand his words.  He said:

“But the seed on good soil stands for those with a noble and good heart, who hear the word, retain it, and by persevering produce a crop.” (Lk 8:15, NIV)

And perhaps it’s because we have a new heart – a noble and good one – that God’s willing to fulfil its desires.  So he says in Psalms: “Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart.” (Ps 37:4, NIV)

If God’s happy to go with our hearts, then perhaps they’re good enough.

– Joey