“My heart is yours.” I sang these songs to my beloved God this morning with great joy and authenticity. However, what does it mean to give our hearts to God?
I certainly can’t gouge it out and put it on an alter. Sorry if you are disturbed at the thought of that. So what can I do? Part of the reason I am asking this question is that I don’t know the answer myself. Must I do something or is it God that does the work? Am I giving him my heart or am I proclaiming, my heart is like yours, it is yours, I love the things you love, I cherish the things you cherish? I think the answer may be a combination of the two. Some people might contend that it is a commitment. I understand this perspective but I believe when we make that commitment to God, that when we believe in him, he comes into us. This doesn’t mean I am giving my heart though.
This morning I gave my heart to God while eating my fruit loops. No, there wasn’t a band playing, a preacher, or a bible in front of me, only a bowl of fruit loops. I thanked God for my fruit loops and asked him to make my heart like his so that when I next time I got Fruit Loops in life, I could turn that around and bless others around me. You see, I think giving our hearts to God means two things.
1. We must give God control and permission to fix our heart.
2. And we must want God to change it for what he wants changed
It is easy for me to give my heart to God while eating those Fruit Loops saying, "I enjoy life, I love what you are doing God. Keep it up!" Obviously we would say that, we are eating Fruit Loops! How could we not be excited about what God is doing in our lives? With bigger issues we might ask him to do things like this, “God make me into a better person, or, God help me to be nice, God help me to be pleasant, God change my heart towards humility.” Now these things aren’t bad by any means, but what are we telling God? Are we asking him to change the things we want changed? This may seem subtle but I believe it is part of giving our hearts to him completely. Am I saying "I want you to continue changing my life because I get Fruit loops?" Or am I asking him to change my life where it hurts so that I can become who God calls me to be? It is easy to ask God to make us more like Jesus because he was a cool guy, but it is much more difficult to ask him to make our hearts like his in the sense that we bear crosses daily, sacrifice time out of our day to be quiet with God, care for others we don’t like, or get rid of sin we think we can justify. Therefore I must thank God for the Fruit Loops and ask him to change my heart to be like his in every way so that I may continue to praise him and bless others, not myself!
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