| Good morning everyone, Our theme for this month: “Rest, relax, renew” Our Bible verse for today: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” Proverbs 4:23 (NIV) Our thought for today: “Feed your soul” Have you heard the old saying, “If you aim at nothing you will hit it every time.”? It means that if you don’t have a goal or objective, something to keep you focused and on track, then you will end up wherever you end up, good or bad. As we have already learned, true Sabbath rest is rest with a spiritual purpose. It’s more than just resting your body it is renewing your soul. It involves physical, mental, emotional, and especially spiritual renewal. But that won’t happen automatically. If we aren’t intentional about it, we will end up frittering away the time we have set aside for renewal. Therefore, we should thoughtfully plan our Sabbath rest to ensure it will feed our soul. We need this. And if we aren’t intentional about planning it, the soul can be flooded with influences that are not positive, helpful, or renewing. In Proverbs 4:23 Solomon issued an important word of caution regarding the critical role the heart plays in the quality and character of our lives. He says that the heart is the wellspring of life, meaning that the rest of life flows from the heart. Therefore, we have to guard the heart by controlling what is allowed into it. And if the heart has been polluted, then steps need to be taken to cleanse it. Jesus spoke to this important truth on multiple occasions. In Luke 6:45 He told us, “The good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and the evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For out of the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks.” In other words, sooner or later whatever is in your heart will rise to the surface and show itself in words and deeds. So, you had better pay attention to what is allowed into your heart. Guard it. As Brent Curtis and John Eldredge explain in their book “The Sacred Romance”, “Our heart is the key to the Christian life … Sadly, most of us watch the oil level in our car more carefully than we watch over the life of our heart.” It’s true – most of us pay much more attention to the external things of life than we do to the internal things of the heart. But God is more concerned about our inner life than our outer life because it’s the inner life that drives the outer life. That’s exactly what Solomon and Jesus were trying to get us to understand. Sabbath rest, in all of its various manifestations, helps us to focus less on the externals of life and more on the internals of the heart. It is possible to reclaim a healthy heart-life by feeding your soul on the good things of God. God bless, Pastor Jim (If you like what you’re reading in these daily devotionals, and if you would like more content from Oak Hill Baptist Church, join us on Sundays at 10:00, in-person if you are nearby or, if you are geographically distant or if you just can’t make it, online at www.YouTube.com/@oakhillbaptistcrossville) |
| Copyright © 2023 Oak Hill Baptist Church, All rights reserved. You are receiving this email because you requested to be included in the Daily Devotional email reader group. Our mailing address is: Oak Hill Baptist Church 3036 Genesis Road Crossville, TN 38571 |
- Comment
- Reblog
-
Subscribe
Subscribed
Already have a WordPress.com account? Log in now.
Oak Hill Baptist Church 