Every single person that was ever born was born into sin, so we naturally gravitate towards sin. Think about it for a moment; children, toddlers, lie. No one taught them to lie but they do. Those cute little sweethearts will tell a lie with a straight face. Children are selfish, they hate sharing and must be taught to share. Children are stubborn and self-willed wanting to have their own way and refusing to do what they’re being told. (Not these little ones pictured of course)
All these behaviours are inherent, they simply show up. Why
is that?
“I was born a sinner, yes, from the moment my mother
conceived me.” (Psalm 51:5 TLB)
We are born with those sinful-nature-seeds; proof of the
corruption of man’s heart after the fall of Adam.
Jeremiah 17:9 (AMPC) describes the heart of man like this…
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is
exceedingly perverse and corrupt and severely, mortally sick!”
Ohhh! What a description. No wonder David had to ask God to “Create
a clean heart for me, God; put a new, faithful spirit deep inside me!” (Psalm
51:10 CEB)
Jeremiah and David are not speaking of our physical hearts,
these verses are referring to our cores – the seat of our thoughts and
intentions, our emotions and motives, our actions and morality.
So, how do we clean our hearts? WE cannot…like David we must
go to our manufacturer, the One who created us. We have to sacrifice our hearts
to God who has the ability to create our hearts – the well springs of our lives
– anew. Our hearts are brought under subjection to God through repentance, a
thorough change of heart concerning sin.
Like the prodigal son, we must come to our senses, recognizing that we have been wasting our lives, misusing our gifts and talents, and just dishonouring the Sacrifice of God through all of it. In addition to that, we must realize that our only hope is to “go home” to our Father saying, with sincere remorse and willingness to change, “Father, I have sinned against both heaven and you” (Luke 17:18 NLT)
I can hear some of you protesting, “But Jesus already paid
the price for my sins; why do I have to repent?” Because Jesus’ sacrifice is
not an excuse for you to continue in sin but to discontinue living the life of
sin you inherited. Repentance, therefore, is a necessary step in that
direction. Repentance toward God, is a precursor to a personal relationship
with Jesus, our sin-bearer, while, at the same time, our fellowship, belief, trust
and faith in Jesus provokes repentance.
As it is written,
“…God is Light and in him is no darkness at all. So if
we say we are his friends but go on living in spiritual darkness and sin, we
are lying. But if we are living in the light of God’s presence, just as
Christ does, then we have wonderful fellowship and joy with each other, and the
blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from every sin.
If we say that we have no sin, we are only fooling ourselves
and refusing to accept the truth. But if we confess our sins to him, he
can be depended on to forgive us and to cleanse us from every wrong. And it is
perfectly proper for God to do this for us because Christ died to wash away our
sins. If we claim we have not sinned, we are lying and calling God a
liar, for he says we have sinned.” (1 John 1:5-10 TLB)
The sacrifice of the heart begins with the confession of sin. So, loosen your tongue, hold nothing back, be honest about the condition of your inner self and pour out your heart to God…
Beloved, your “[only] sacrifice [acceptable] to God is a
broken spirit; A broken and contrite heart [broken with sorrow for sin,
thoroughly penitent]” (Psalm 51:17 AMP)
And after you’ve surrendered your heart, the inward being,
to God, it is imperative that you be diligent in protecting your recreated core
from re-defilement.
Solomon, in Proverbs 4:23 says,
“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the
course of your life.” (NLT)
The sacrifice of the heart is truly life changing. The
course of your life is redirected from the broad road that leads to destruction, to the narrow road that leads to life…be one of the few that find it. (Matthew
7:13-14)
Amen †
Shelley Johnson “The Sacrifice of the Heart“ © April 7, 2025
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