In this series we’re talking about the ancient Jewish prayer called the Shema, found in Deuteronomy 6. This is a prayer of allegiance for the Hebrew people thousands of years ago. It has been prayed for centuries every morning and evening, so it’s kind of like our Pledge of Allegiance. It demonstrates the character of God, and shows us how to respond to him.
In episode one: we talked about “listen”, the word “shema”. Episode two introduced “the Lord”. In episode three, we discussed “Love” or “ahava.” The second half of the series focuses on how to love God. The three words are “heart”, “soul”, and “strength.” By examining these words, we’re going to learn how we can also pray like this, and make a commitment like this, to love the Lord this way. So today’s word is “lev”, the Hebrew word for “heart.”
When we talk about the heart, many people these days advocate following your heart: doing what you most WANT to do, or what FEELS right. But so many stories can be told about people who followed what they wanted or what felt good, but ended up with tragic consequences. To understand why, let’s take a look at how the Bible defines the “heart” and what that means for us.
We think of the heart as the place where we feel. Biblically, it does include that.
This describes human emotions: joy and delight. But that’s not all the heart is. In biblical Hebrew, it also represents the place where our thoughts come from.
In our culture we would say, “wisdom is enshrined in a person’s brain or head.” But the Hebrew language didn’t have a way to say that. They didn’t understand the role of your brain in your inner life. For them, it was the heart. So when the Shema says “Love God with all your heart,” it’s not just talking about feelings. That also includes the way you think.
Let’s add one more facet to this picture…
It’s the seat of your emotions. It’s the source of your thoughts. It’s also the home of your will. You might have a thought, or an emotion. What moves that to action is your will. It’s the faculty of choosing. In other words, we could say that the “heart” - biblically speaking - is the sum total of your inner person. It’s not talking about the organ that beats to circulate blood. It’s your thoughts, feelings, and intentions. Your mind, emotions, and will.
None of these exist independently of the others. When you have a feeling, it can feed your thoughts. If you continue to feed that in your mind - like a temptation, or a picture on your phone - it starts to play on your desires, which ends up affecting your choices.
So when we read “heart” think about the inner person. God is saying. Don’t just give your feelings to me, or just your thoughts, but surrender your entire inner self to me.
When we love the Lord with our whole heart, that changes the will / the intentions we have.
The Bible doesn’t teach us to “follow your heart.” It teaches us to “guard your heart.” In other words, guard your thoughts, your emotions, your intentions, because the inner person is such a key part of
