Heart Makeover - Christ’s Commission Fellowship

Heart Makeover - Christ’s Commission Fellowship

Speaker: Edric Mendoza 

Whenever we think of mothers, our thoughts drift into a heart image – a big heart. But while we cherish that kind of heart, the Bible warns us about a different kind of heart. Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?”

Many Christians find it difficult to be intimate with God because of their heart condition. The Hebrew word for “heart” is levav which refers to the inner man. If our heart is not well, we need a makeover. The first thing to do is to check and find the problem, and then fix it. By analogy, that is what we need to do if we have a heart problem – check and fix.

1 Kings 12:26-32 chronicles the life of King Jeroboam. Jeroboam was a bad king, and almost all kings that succeeded him followed his bad legacy. For each of his successors, there is this description: “He did evil in the eyes of the LORD, as his fathers had done. He did not turn away from the sins of Jeroboam son of Nebat, which he had caused Israel to commit” (2 Kings 15:9).

King Jeroboam ruled the Northern kingdom of Israel after it was divided. He was an evil king and he did much evil in the sight of the Lord even after God promised to make him king and guide him if he would obey (1 Kings 11:38). But in defiance, Jeroboam built altars and shrines in Israel’s high places, made two golden calves and encouraged idol worship. He made priests of people who were non-Levites and instituted a festival like the one held in Judah. Clearly, something was wrong with his heart. Jeroboam simply did not believe or trust in God’s promise. He had a doubtful heart.

All the deeds of Jeroboam were motivated by fear and insecurity. He did not want his people to wander over the territory of his rival, King Rehoboam of Judah, for fear that they would switch loyalty and kill him. He sought advice but ended up with wrong counsel (1 Kings 12:28- 29) and even caused his own people to sin. His second heart problem was a misguided heart.

He blatantly disobeyed God when he instituted a feast which coincided with the Jewish Feast of Tabernacles. His real intent then was to prevent the men of Israel from going on their traditional trip to Jerusalem and see King Rehoboam. He wanted to take over and control God’s department. He had a controlling heart which is his third heart problem.

As we see the evil of Jeroboam, it is perhaps time to reflect and assess our own heart. While we obviously will never do what Jeroboam did, are we sure that we are not doing things that are similar to his deeds?
Do we trust God completely and never doubt Him? Do we seek wise counsel that will not only be good but will conform to God’s Word? Do we still want to be in control of our own lives and many other things? How do we fix our own heart?

Ezekiel 36:26 says that God is willing to give us a new heart. He will remove our heart of stone and give us a heart of flesh. Ask God for a heart that will trust Him instead of a doubtful heart; a heart anchored on God’s Word instead of a misguided heart; and, a new heart that is completely surrendered to God and not a controlling heart.

We need to pursue intimacy with Jesus. To experience a deeper relationship with Him, we need a heart makeover. Hebrews 12:2 exhorts us to “fix our eyes on Jesus.” Heart makeover is only possible through a saving relationship with Jesus.