July 15, 2018

"No, a true Jew is one whose heart is right with God. And true circumcision is not merely obeying the letter of the law; rather, it is a change of heart produced by God's Spirit. And a person with a changed heart seeks praise from God, not from people." Romans 2:29 NLV

I don't know if it was because I grew up in a communist country, but I was always taught to put the mind above the heart. The intellect was highly valued, while heart matters were more for the weak.  And… you couldn't have both.

Three years ago, today I made the decision to follow Christ. Up until that point, I was following a religion and believed in a God that was aggressive and unpredictable. There were rules and regulations, beautiful churches and carefully chosen Sunday outfits but there was no heart in all that. Emptiness.

A while back when I chose my major in college, I went for something that made sense from a job market standpoint. I didn't love what I chose, my heart was not in it. I wanted to do something else, but that something else was not as marketable. Fast forward, even though I graduated and got my degree, I never used it. It was an empty pursuit.

In today's reading, we see that God is after our hearts. From the beginning, God did not only want a physical circumcision. He wanted his people to circumcise their hearts.  "The LORD your God will circumcise your hearts and the hearts of your descendants, so that you may love him with all your heart and with all your soul, and live." Deut. 30:6. "Circumcise your hearts, therefore, and do not be stiff-necked any longer" Deut. 10:16.

To me, this is a great reminder to pay attention to my heart. "For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also." Mat 6:21. For a long time, I believed that I needed to choose between following my heart and following my mind.  The heart and the mind don't have to exclude each other. "Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind" Luke 10:27. The heart touched by God's spirit is the life, the power, the fuel for our decisions, dreams, plans, investments. "A good head and a good heart are always a formidable combination" Nelson Mandela