Word@Work
Word@Work from BeaconLight Tuesday, January 27, 2009 CLOSE TO THE HEART Ephesians 6:14b ... with the breastplate of righteousness in place ... (NIV)
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You can read the verses around this Bible passage from the Internet Bible: - in English, and Spanish
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A breastplate obviously covers the heart. Physically, the heart is just a vital mechanical pump; but the metaphor is all about the bit of us that has desires and makes decisions. We make think that we decide with pure mental objectivity, but we don't! The big decisions of who to marry, what job to accept and which house to buy, are a fusion of so many thoughts: what we want now, with our past experiences, our future hopes and long term ambitions. None of these have much mathematical quantity, but we arrive at decisions (which have far reaching consequences) on the basis of lots of this 'soft data'. Christians who are trusting the Lord also have help from the Holy Spirit to compare and contrast this 'soft data' with Bible truth. He also helps us to build into our decisions what will please Him. Then He helps us to move with courage to announce our decision and to do what we believe to be right.
Being in the right matters to human beings. God has created us so that it should; but if we ignore Him and persist in wanting what is not right, eventually He will allow us to suffer the consequences of our wrong desire (cf Ps 106:15). So it is crucial that our hearts are protected by being in the right - otherwise we open a gap for evil to attack us and we will have no defence. Even God puts on a breastplate of righteousness (cf Is 59:17), and every Christian must do the same. Of course, it is only God's righteousness that is adequate as a defence against Satan. If we look to our own integrity we may see many holes through which the devil could wound us fatally. But if we are trusting in the Lord Jesus, God gives us His righteousness (Rom 3:22); indeed, Jesus becomes our righteousness (cf 1 Cor 1:30): it is as though Jesus Himself stands in front of us, so close to our heart, to protect our hearts and deter the Evil One.
No wonder Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." If only we would choose to accept what is right according to Jesus as the resource for our hearts. However, the world of work often has a different agenda: short term battles instead of eternal victory; pragmatism instead of principles; and convenience instead of conscience. So to march out into a new day with Jesus in front of you will be very different. It will matter to you what is right, because it matters to Jesus. It will be important not to make wrong decisions because it would grieve Jesus. But more than that, even when the pace of life becomes so rapid that we hardly know what decisions we are making - those who have the righteousness of Christ close to their heart will have an internal hunger to choose the right, knowing that God will meet their needs (cf Matt 5:6). And when that happens, there is no place for evil to reach through to wound our hearts. So put on that breastplate - if God does, we certainly need to!
Prayer: Dear Lord. Help me to be eager to put on Your righteousness each day. I want to make right decisions but I need to be 'in the right' first. Thank you that only Jesus can make me righteous, because I know it is impossible any other way. May I step out into this day covered with His righteousness and trust Him to protect my heart as I make decisions. For Jesus' sake. Amen.
God Bless your day, minie
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You can read the verses around this Bible passage from the Internet Bible: - in English, and Spanish
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A breastplate obviously covers the heart. Physically, the heart is just a vital mechanical pump; but the metaphor is all about the bit of us that has desires and makes decisions. We make think that we decide with pure mental objectivity, but we don't! The big decisions of who to marry, what job to accept and which house to buy, are a fusion of so many thoughts: what we want now, with our past experiences, our future hopes and long term ambitions. None of these have much mathematical quantity, but we arrive at decisions (which have far reaching consequences) on the basis of lots of this 'soft data'. Christians who are trusting the Lord also have help from the Holy Spirit to compare and contrast this 'soft data' with Bible truth. He also helps us to build into our decisions what will please Him. Then He helps us to move with courage to announce our decision and to do what we believe to be right.
Being in the right matters to human beings. God has created us so that it should; but if we ignore Him and persist in wanting what is not right, eventually He will allow us to suffer the consequences of our wrong desire (cf Ps 106:15). So it is crucial that our hearts are protected by being in the right - otherwise we open a gap for evil to attack us and we will have no defence. Even God puts on a breastplate of righteousness (cf Is 59:17), and every Christian must do the same. Of course, it is only God's righteousness that is adequate as a defence against Satan. If we look to our own integrity we may see many holes through which the devil could wound us fatally. But if we are trusting in the Lord Jesus, God gives us His righteousness (Rom 3:22); indeed, Jesus becomes our righteousness (cf 1 Cor 1:30): it is as though Jesus Himself stands in front of us, so close to our heart, to protect our hearts and deter the Evil One.
No wonder Proverbs 4:23 says, "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life." If only we would choose to accept what is right according to Jesus as the resource for our hearts. However, the world of work often has a different agenda: short term battles instead of eternal victory; pragmatism instead of principles; and convenience instead of conscience. So to march out into a new day with Jesus in front of you will be very different. It will matter to you what is right, because it matters to Jesus. It will be important not to make wrong decisions because it would grieve Jesus. But more than that, even when the pace of life becomes so rapid that we hardly know what decisions we are making - those who have the righteousness of Christ close to their heart will have an internal hunger to choose the right, knowing that God will meet their needs (cf Matt 5:6). And when that happens, there is no place for evil to reach through to wound our hearts. So put on that breastplate - if God does, we certainly need to!
Prayer: Dear Lord. Help me to be eager to put on Your righteousness each day. I want to make right decisions but I need to be 'in the right' first. Thank you that only Jesus can make me righteous, because I know it is impossible any other way. May I step out into this day covered with His righteousness and trust Him to protect my heart as I make decisions. For Jesus' sake. Amen.
God Bless your day, minie
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