We Need New Hearts

Brief note on Luke 3:7-14:

The language of John the Baptist is strong, as was that of Old Testament prophets who preceded him. The language is picturesque. Two images are presented. First, a tree that does not produce fruit should be chopped down and removed to make way for one that will. Mere physical descent from Abraham is unimportant; God can create his own children out of stones, just as he can cause inanimate stones to praise his Son if humans remain silent. The threat of judgment is heightened through the imagery of fire. John the Baptist came preaching the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins. The crowd is told to share clothing and food with the needy as evidence of repentance. As John preached repentance, he dealt with each person's problem. In these verses each individual's symptoms were different. The man with two tunics needed to share with those that had none, the tax collectors needed to stop collecting more taxes than was required and the soldiers needed to stop their extortion and be content with their pay.

Hearts can be changed

There's an old Indian fable about a mouse who, like all mice, feared cats. A wizard felt sorry for him and offered to help him lose his fear. So with the mouse's approval, the wizard turned him into a cat. The cat, however, was afraid of dogs. So the wizard turned the cat into a dog. But the dog was afraid of tigers. So, the wizard turned the dog into a tiger. When the wizard discovered that the tiger was afraid of hunters, he exclaimed in disgust, "You're hopeless. What you needed was a change of heart! And that I cannot give you."

People also need a new heart. Rather than merely being fixed up on the outside, they must be completely changed on the inside. The word of God is designed to root out the bad plants. God's word is designed to root out evil.

James 1:21-25 teaches us of moral filth and the evil that is so abundant must be stripped off like dirty clothes in preparation for accepting the word of God. It is not enough merely to listen to the word or, by the same token, merely to read it. Those who congratulate themselves on being hearers of the truth are deceiving themselves. If they do not combine doing with hearing, they put themselves in a most vulnerable position. The call to "do what it says" lies at the centre of all that James teaches and sums up the whole book: Put into practice what you profess to believe.

Those who listen to the word do so attentively and at length, so that they understand what they hear. They know what God expects them to do. Any failure to respond cannot be blamed on a lack of understanding. The purpose of listening to the truth is to act upon it.

A bad tree cannot bear good fruit

John the Baptist came preaching, "The axe is already at the root of the trees, and every tree that does not produce good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire" (Matthew 3:10). Jesus came aiming the axe at the root of the tree. Jesus said, "Likewise every good tree bears good fruit, but a bad tree bears bad fruit. A good tree cannot bear bad fruit, and a bad tree cannot bear good fruit." (Matthew 7:17-18)

You cannot make a bad fruit tree bear good fruit. A tree is either good or bad, and if it is bad, it must be cut down; a good one must be replanted in its place. Another thing you can't do is produce artificial fruit on a bad tree. God is not interested in artificial fruit, or renovating our hearts, or remodelling our lives. Christianity is more than a change of habits and a change of behaviour; it is a change of heart.

The tree doesn't represent the person; it represents what is growing in the heart of a person. If you concluded that the tree is the person, then all you have left that you can do to get rid of the evil is to destroy the evil person. But Jesus is teaching that it is what is growing in the person's heart that makes a person good or bad and there is a remedy. Jesus called the crowd to him and said, "Listen and understand. What goes into a man's mouth does not make him unclean, but what comes out of his mouth, that is what makes him unclean" (Matthew 15:10 &11).

Guard your heart

Proverbs 4:23 “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life”.

For righteousness, the "heart" (the mind) must be guarded diligently. The heart must be guarded; for it is the wellspring of life. The heart is the starting point of the activities of life; it determines the course of life. A man's life is governed by his thoughts; he will ultimately become that which he dwells most upon in his mind.

Paul wrote to the Philippians, "Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-- if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-- think about such things" (Philippians 4:8).

Believers should keep on thinking and doing what is morally and spiritually excellent. This involves centering their minds on exalted things and then putting into practice what they have learned. This is the reason for Paul's instruction to the Romans, "Do not conform any longer to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind" (Romans 12:2).

We must be continually vigilant lest our original decision to serve God is vitiated or weakened. The threat comes from this world, whose ways and thoughts can so easily impinge on the child of God. Remember that our heavenly calling includes residence in this world, among sinful people. But God has called us out of darkness into his marvellous light and we are in the world for witness, not for conformity to the fallen ways of the world. Our pattern is Christ.

"The renewing of your mind" means believers must keep going back in their thoughts to their original commitment to God and reaffirm its necessity in the light of God's grace extended to them. Dedication leads to discernment and discernment to delight in God's will.

Christ came to give us a new heart

It matters little where we are but the important thing is that Christ came to give us a new heart. Christ told Nicodemus that he needed to be born again.

John 3:3-5 In reply Jesus declared, "I tell you the truth, no one can see the kingdom of God unless he is born again." "How can a man be born when he is old?" Nicodemus asked. "Surely he cannot enter a second time into his mother's womb to be born!" Jesus answered, "I tell you the truth, no one can enter the kingdom of God unless he is born of water and the Spirit.

Everyone needs a new heart and only God through Christ can do that for us. He will change the whole of our infected nature and give us new passions. Only he can renew our minds, enlighten our understanding, correct our judgment, and refine our will.

The heart is hard, impenetrable, and cold. Its affections and passions that are unyielding, frozen, and unaffected by heavenly things. Through Christ Jesus, God can entirely remove this old heart and replace it with one that can feel love to God and to all men, and be a proper habitation for the living God.

Selie Visa