Joel 2: 12-13 “ Yet even now, says the Lord, return to me with your whole heart, with fasting and weeping and mourning; rend your hearts not your garments, and return to the Lord, your God “
Come back to me, with all your heart . . .
When I sing this, what does it mean? with all your heart …
The human heart is so vital:
- If your heart is beating, you’re alive.
- If someone is virtuous, they are pure hearted.
- A beloved one is the heart of my heart.
- A sinful person sins because of a closed heart.
- When one desires, we have our heart set on something.
- When we are discouraged, we do things half-heartedly.
- A healthy diet for our body is said to be heart smart.
The heart is so important and really, when I think of it, my heart is all of me. But sometimes we do not have whole hearts. They are fragmented, troubled, fearful, lonely, wounded . . . It is our common human thread.
We live in a world that sometimes looks as if it has lost its way.
- We are more prosperous, yet our sense of emptiness grows.
- We are better educated than our ancestors, yet ignorance shrinks our world.
- We know how to live in peace, yet violence is rampant in our cities, our neighborhoods and sometimes even our families.
These very contradictions cause our hearts to be troubled, broken and diminished. From this brokenness, it’s a real challenge to bring our entire “heart” to God. But God seeks to share not only our troubled hearts, but also our emotions, our thoughts, our bodies, our dreams, our deepest secrets and our greatest joys.
Lent gives us the time, the reminder to do this.
We are told again and again of God’s heart, God’s love for us.
Are we listening?
How are we responding?