Heart Tracks - Real

Come, let us reason together, says the Lord." Isaiah 1:18....."The Bible is not a book to carry around and read for information on God, but a voice to listen to." Anonymous

If you look at the full context of Isaiah 1, you may think I've chosen a strange verse to feature. The Father is speaking to a generation of His people Israel who have forsaken Him, embraced a lifestyle of rebellion and sin, and whose hearts are far from Him. He is justifiably angry, yet at the same time, His heart longs for them to come to Him, with all that they are, sin and rebellion included, "and reason together" with Him. He wants relationship and intimacy with them, and to be able to give them a new, fresh revelation of who He is. John Eldredge once said, "I want Jesus. The real Jesus." In His constant call to us, it is His desire that we know Him, in all aspects of who He is. The real Father, real Son, and real Holy Spirit.

I once read that the Hebrew word for "Bible" translates to "to call." Personally, that impacts my heart. It's so easy to see the Bible and the "study" of it as an exercise in information gathering. Whether individually or in a group setting, we can fall into having nothing more than discussions on what we think the Bible says, all the while missing what He is saying through it. So much of what we call "Bible study" is nothing more than this. Jesus Christ is the Word made Life, and the Bible is His Living Word. Simply put, the Bible is not merely nice words of wisdom printed in ink on paper. It is God breathed revelation and it is filled with Himself. All of it is a call to our hearts to come to Him, reason with Him, listen to Him, and be ministered life by Him. If we really knew and believed this, our Bibles would cease being "that book gathering dust on the table," one we know we should read, but rarely have the desire to do so, to being a means of partaking of His Life. If we knew this, preachers and teachers would have to cease almost begging people to read it. All, including those very preachers and teachers, would come hungry for the bread of His Life that is found in those neglected pages.

There's a chilling verse in the Old Testament that relates how the people of that day had hearts that had wandered very far from the Lord. It reads, "Word from the Lord was rare." For too many of us, it is the same. We may diligently be going to church, paying our tithes, even dutifully reading our Bible, but actually hearing Him, relating to Him, growing deeper in Him, is rare. Our physical bodies may not have wandered far from organized church services, but our hearts have drifted far from Him. His Word and Presence have little impact on our day to day living. We may not be in open rebellion and sin, but we are missing the real Three in One God revealed in His Word, and that He longs to make real in our lives. So here's a penetrating question for each of us; when was the last time you picked up a Bible, read it, and heard His voice and heart? More, when was the last time you actually expected to?

Whatever spiritual state you may be in today, He calls to you. He invites you, me, all of us, to come to Him, talk, reason, and yes, question Him. He doesn't fear that, because when we do, He is faithful to respond. He may not explain all, reveal all, but He will give of Himself. He will give us His heart and His Life. The call of His Word leads us to His heart, leads us to pray, leads us to worship Him. We move from practicing a religion to experiencing intimate relationship. He calls us to come, open His Word as He opens His heart. His is a Voice to listen to. How deeply do we desire to listen? How clearly do we even hear?

Blessings,
Pastor O

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