8 Days to Prepare Your Heart for Easterਨਮੂਨਾ

The Heart-Check We Need To Stay on Track
By Meredith Houston Carr

Waiting in the long checkout line, I impatiently tapped my shopping cart full of school supplies. I wasn't in the mood to chat, but the woman behind me peppered me with questions, so I explained how our church organized a school-supplies drive each year. She gushed with admiration of this ministry, and I politely agreed. But conviction gripped me moments later.

This was a great ministry, but my attitude about it wasn't great! I'd allowed the overwhelm of the busy back-to-school season to harden my heart. Outwardly, I complied. Inwardly, my spirit grumbled. I confessed to the Lord the sorry state of my soul, praying for a renewed heart.

How easily we can fall into doing the right thing with the wrong spirit. We see this in Scripture too. Judas, the apostle infamous for betraying Jesus, spent years with Jesus — when He performed miracles, changed lives, taught crowds and called out religious leaders. Judas walked the walk, building God's Kingdom alongside the other disciples. But as today's key verse details, his heart reached a fateful turning point:

"From that time on, Judas began looking for an opportunity to betray Jesus" (Matthew 26:16, NLT).

Physical proximity to Jesus wasn't enough. We can even build His Kingdom outwardly, but inwardly we are tempted to build our own. It's the proximity of our hearts to Jesus that determines whether we give in to this temptation.

Judas' decision to betray Jesus came on the heels of Mary of Bethany’s anointing of Jesus with expensive perfume (Matthew 26:6-13). Jesus said this moment would be remembered forever, but Judas resented her charity and grumbled against it. He witnessed a lavish display of generosity firsthand— yet his heart was hard.

Similarly, we can keep our lives busy with good, godly things, but if our hearts don't align with the gospel, we're setting ourselves up to fail.

As Easter approaches, let's conduct a heart-check, asking ourselves two questions to stay on track:

1. Is my heart more aligned with Jesus' mission or my own?
2. Does my heart prioritize the same causes that Jesus does?

Dear one, asking God to show us our hearts isn't easy. But perhaps that's just what we need to continue walking faithfully with Jesus!

Jesus, forgive us for outwardly serving You yet inwardly desiring our way. Help us align our hearts with You and walk with integrity and authenticity. In Jesus' Name, Amen.