Set your heart!

The heart:

1. the center of the total personality, esp. with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion
2. the center of emotion, esp. as contrasted to the head as the center of the intellect
3. spirit, courage, or enthusiasm
4. the innermost or central part of anything
5. the vital or essential part; core

I don't really know how I ended up reading Malachi, but I'm there ... in chapter 2. Verse 2 sends a somber caution to us:

If you do not listen, and if you do not set your heart to honor my name," says the LORD Almighty, "I will send a curse upon you, and I will curse your blessings. Yes, I have already cursed them, because you have not set your heart to honor me.

The heart is considered to be the center of our spirit or soul. We are told to guard our heart throughout scripture. The mind, center of intellect, and the heart are often at odds. If the conviction of the heart is strong enough, it almost invariably wins. Thus, we have to guard our heart. Proverbs 4:23 calls the heart the "wellspring of life."

In this passage in Malachi, God is calling us to set our hearts to honor him. We do this through knowing him, learning his ways, and being obedient. We need to see as he sees so that we do as he does.

God demands this of us. The alternative ... cursing our blessings. Now, that's a dichotomy. Curses - bad. Blessings - good. What does it mean to curse our blessings. I don't know, but I have an idea.

The current economic situation may be the perfect example. In America we have been blessed with abundance and affluence. When the two of the top issues in our society are debt and obesity, we're not lacking. Yet, this abundance is becoming a curse. We go into debt. We become obese. Our savings or retirement goes in the tank with the market declines.

Know that our heart follows our treasures (Matthew 6:21). I heard someone say recently that we're upset with the economy because our god is dying. Yes, the economy is bad. However, we're still the wealthiest nation on earth and we're still blessed among the nations. When we don't set our hearts to honor God, these blessings are cursed.

God will bring us to a point of honoring him ... either in this life or in the one to come. Make it your life's mission to honor him. Set your heart on him.