In 1758 Robert Robinson, aged 22, penned the well known hymn, “Come Thou Fount of every blessing”. The inspired words still find a place in a heart seeking after God.
The third verse of the hymn is as follows:
“O to grace how great a debtor daily I’m constrained to be,
Let that grace, Lord, like a fetter bind my wandering hear to Thee,
Prone to wander, Lord, I feel it. Prone to leave the God I love.
Take my heart, O take and seal it. Seal it from Thy courts above.”
We are all aware of the consequences of a wandering heart. When I begin to listen to the voice of reason, instead of what God and His Word says, my heart begins to wander. When I murmur and complain about my circumstances, my heart wanders and a downward spiral of events begins unless I repent and honour God in the midst of my circumstance. This is the place my wandering heart needs to worship, IN the hard situations. God is the God of my circumstances. He may not have engineered them, but He permits in His wisdom, that which He could prevent in His power. Whether the depths of despair, or little irritations arrive as my portion for the day, I do not have to embrace them as my lot. The Lord is my portion and He rules over all. A pure heart chooses to see God in ALL things. “Blessed are the pure in heart for they shall see God”, Matthew 5:8.
All life is a test. Our days are full of choices to make and learning curves. We can identify with the hymn writer and recognise our wandering heart and its bias to self instead of the Lord, but the more we give preeminence to what God says, the more our hearts will be tuned to worship Him in every situation. As we make these right choices, the Holy Spirit will enable us live a life to glorify and please the Father. Jesus, our Pattern Man, always had His ear tuned to His Father in communication. He only spoke the words His Father gave Him. He only did the things His Father directed Him to. He only did the things that pleased the Father.
God is not seeking able men. He does not accept my effort but He will accept my surrender. Only then can an incomplete person become complete in Jesus Christ, to the glory of God. He does the work, His is the credit.
God can do much with little, most with least and EVERYTHING with NOTHING! Am I willing to lose my reputation before men, in order to become what God designed me to be, for His good pleasure. Jesus made Himself of no reputation and humbled Himself and became obedient, (Philippians 2: 6-8). Humbling is vital to obedience.
As the gatekeeper of my heart, I am responsible to allow the Lord Jesus to reign there and not allow negative thoughts to have the last word. As I abdicate the throne of my heart, He will reign and demonstrate that He is my Keeper as well as my Saviour. His rule is a joyful one accompanied with His peace and awareness of His presence. This is the rest spoken of for God’s people in Hebrews 4. A wandering heart cannot enter the Believer’s birthright of God’s rest until it surrenders and repents.
When trials come, let us make the right choice to “assure our hearts” and have confidence in God that He is able to keep us focused on Him. Let God be true to His word and declare: “…..For I know on whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day”, 2 Timothy 1: 12.
Dear Lord, create in me a clean heart, a heart that’s tuned to worship you in ALL things.
Photo by Ugne Vasyliute on Unsplash
