Heart On Heaven
Jesus is obsessed with having your heart.
The reason is simple...
He knows that you are at your best when you're obsessed with Him.
I'm reading very slowly through Luke 11-12 right now, circling back and forth between all the intertwined themes. And one message pervades them all—your heart is under attack but it's home when it's longing for Jesus.
Within these passages Jesus unleashes a relentless vision of generosity and trust, combating greed, worry, self-centeredness and pride. He does so because He knows full well that our affections follow our expenses.
Luke 11:41 | NIV
"But now as for what is inside you—be generous to the poor, and everything will be clean for you."
Luke 12:15 | NIV
"Watch out! Be on your guard against all kinds of greed; life does not consist in an abundance of possessions."
Luke 12:29-31 | NIV
"And do not set your heart on what you will eat or drink; do not worry about it…But seek his kingdom..."
Luke 12:33-34 | NIV
"Sell your possessions and give to the poor...for where your treasure is, there your heart will be also."
But for some reason all these themes of generosity and trusting God to provide all clicked for me in the passage that followed.
The section is titled "Watchfulness" in my Bible and it's honestly a passage I don't dwell on much. But perhaps it's the glue that holds this big idea together.
Luke 12:35, 37 | NIV
"Be dressed ready for service and keep your lamps burning…It will be good for those servants whose master finds them watching when he comes."
This whole section casts this compelling vision of a servant who's always ready. Every slight noise he hears, every traveler in the distance he sees, he's prepared for it to be Jesus. The table is always set, the lights are always on, dinner's ready to be served...
His eyes are always open. His heart is always on Heaven.
Maybe you can see how this section is the glue. Because, from personal experience, do you know what keeps my eyes falling off Jesus the easiest?
Stuff.
Things.
My "accumulations".
The items in life I'm striving for.
They become the first things I think about when I wake up. They're the things I worry about the most. They're what I put my best energy into and spend my creativity on.
So in this "watchfulness" section, Jesus casts a vision of a follower whose eyes are always wide open to see God first. To wake up to an expectation that God may show up at any moment—maybe for the second coming, maybe to share something with you over coffee, maybe to lead you to speak a word of encouragement to someone, maybe to tell you to move across the country, maybe to tell you to sing a new song in the middle of a worship service...
I simply can't do this with my heart trained on stuff. I'm just not that good of a multitasker.
So my prayer this week for my own life and for this community is that we begin each day with our eyes on the Scriptures, our minds centered on the Lord, and wills that are ready to move at the slightest stirring of the Spirit.
EYES WIDE OPEN
HEART ON HEAVEN