Each morning when I sit down to do my devotions, multiple distractions attempt to take me away from my time with the Lord. There are notifications on my phone, social media that provide morsels of information, and email that need to be addressed. When I allow these to take me away, it crowds out my devotions. Even worse, it disconnects my heart from what the Spirit wants to teach me. It affects my heart for the rest of the day. We need to cultivate a heart to know the Lord.
Jeremiah 24:7
I will give them a heart to know that I am the Lord, and they shall be my people and I will be their God, for they shall return to me with their whole heart.”
Turned Their Hearts from the Lord
Much of Jeremiah’s prophecy is what will happen to the Israelites after their seventy years of captivity. God was going to use that time away from the promised land to turn their hearts back towards Him. They had done what is right in their own eyes and turned after foreign gods for hundreds of years, and God had had enough. Time away from their land would bring about a change of heart.
Till the Soil
Sometimes we need to go through some difficulties to get our heart right with God. Over time we can grow dull in our affection for Him if we are pursuing everything we think is important. The challenging part of this is that most of what we pursue is good, but it isn’t the right thing. God will be patient with us, giving prompts from the Holy Spirit to turn back. If those go unnoticed, then He will send a situation into our lives where we can only depend upon Him.
Cultivate a Heart to Know the Lord
We need to cultivate a heart to know the Lord. Just like a farmer tills the soil, plants the seed, and then waters it, we have to do the same with our heart. It is easy for weeds to sprout up and for soils to get hard. A living, vibrant faith in Jesus is dependent upon us, keeping our hearts free of debris. Give God your whole heart today.