1) The human heart beat roughly 35 million times a year.
2) In a lifetime, the heart pumps about one million barrels of blood.
3) More than 2,000 heart transplants are performed each year in the U.S.
4) When a person really becomes a Christian, their heart is changed.
a) That change usually does not come all at once—it is a process.
b) As the heart is molded into the way God desires, a person becomes different.
c) 2 Cor. 3:1-3.
5) When we evaluate people we often look at the outward appearance.
6) Often that is the worst indicator of what a person is like.
7) In 1 Sam. 16 the prophet Samuel was told to go and anoint a king.
8) What was God looking for in a king? The answer is found in verse 7.
a) God pays special attention to a person’s heart.
b) Outwardly a person may not seem to have any positive quality.
9) Heaven is not all that interested in outward appearances.
a) We see this in our next reference, Lk. 11.
b) Jesus had been invited to dine with a Pharisee (Lk. 11:37).
c) Verse 38 says – READ
d) The Pharisees were really concerned with what they could see (outward appearances).
e) God was and is interested in the heart.
10) The man in Lk. 11 must have expressed surprise or shock because Jesus said something to him.
11) What the Lord told him is in verse– verse 39 – READ
a) A heart is transformed by becoming a Christian.
b) A heart is “sprinkled” with the benefits of Christ’s blood when we are baptized, Heb. 10:22.
12) When a heart has been changed by being obedient to the gospel, it becomes sensitive.
a) I do not mean sensitive to criticism.
b) I mean sensitivity to knowing and following the will of God.
13) During this time David quietly cut off part of Saul’s robe.
14) David’s action showed he could have killed the king, but he did not want to do that.
15) Later David had some remorse about cutting Saul’s robe.
a) He was a man who had a sensitive heart.
b) God wants good hearts, and that process begins with spiritual surgery.
16) A lot of people
17) want a heart that is soft toward God and a heart attached to the world.
18) Jesus responded to this type of thinking in Lk. 9:61-62.
a) If a man puts his hand to the plow and turns back, he wants two kinds of hearts.
b) James said this is spiritual adultery, Jas. 4:4.
19) We can have only one heart; it is for God or it is for the world. It cannot be divided.
20) The Bible goes on to tell us that we make our choice very early in life.
21) In Gen. 8:21 God says man’s heart is “evil from his youth.”
22) Mk. 7:23 – READ
23) God wants to create a new heart within people through His plan of redemption.
24) Unfortunately there are those who prefer to keep their hearts closed and hard.
25) Mk. 3:1-3 – READ
26) Pharaoh also had a hard heart (he chose to harden himself to the instructions given by God).
27) We also make a choice about our hearts: we can harden them or let them be softened.
Find the truth about God and become a New Testament Christian. Find out more about New Testament Christianity by running some Internet searches for “church of Christ” and “churches of Christ.” You may also want to visit http://www.abiblecommentary.com for Bible study information.
Remember, in order to be saved and enjoy all God’s blessings (not the least of which is salvation), a person must have faith (Jn. 8:24), be willing to repent (Lk. 13:3), and after confessing Christ as Lord, the final step is water baptism (Rom. 6:3; 1 Cor. 12:13; 1 Pet. 3:20-21). Bible baptism is by immersion only (“burial,” Rom. 6:4), and once it is done, heaven puts that person “into Christ” (Gal. 3:27; Rom. 6:3). After proper baptism a person has their sins forgiven (Acts 2:38).