June 2

“He reveals the deep things of darkness and brings deep shadows into the light.”—JOB 12:22

As Job experienced, God reveals the deep things of darkness. He brings deep shadows into the light, and out of the shadows of God’s judgment and dealings  with people, there steps a heart that wherever you cut it, it is love.   

One of the most stirring verses in all of Scripture is found in Genesis 6:6, which says, “The LORD was grieved that he had made man on earth, and his heart was filled with pain.” A danger in thinking that Scripture is primarily revealing God’s thoughts is that we begin to believe the highest response to God is in acquiring knowledge of His mind, and acting in obedience to His will. To the chagrin of Jesus, leaders of the Jewish faith made this their objective. They had failed to connect with the heart of God, which can make a night and day difference between a cold, robotic faith and a relationship that draws us into intimate union with Christ.

We know the heart of God through our minds, but it is with our hearts that love is reciprocated. The command to “love the Lord your God with all your heart, soul and strength” comes from the book of Deuteronomy, which is essentially an amplified version of the Ten Commandments God gave to Moses. The command to love God and walk in His ways permeates the text. Detached from the heart of God, studying Scripture would be like studying the anatomy of a corpse. There is no life.   

To love God with all our hearts requires that we know something of His heart and connect with it.  I John 4:19 says, “We love because he first loved us.” It is knowing His love, and knowing His heart that is going to release our hearts to love Him. One of the most profound passages in Scripture that demonstrates God’s love is John 3:16, which says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son.” 

The truth of Scripture makes sense in the heart that is aflame for Christ. It becomes much more than a book on biblical history and wholesome principles to live by, it reveals God’s story, which affects us all. Alister McGrath, a leading evangelical theologian and author, wrote in his book, ‘A Passion for Truth’, “To reduce revelation to principles or concepts is to suppress the element of mystery, holiness and wonder of God’s self-disclosure.” God’s greatest love is realized in coming to the cross of Jesus where He said, “Forgive them, Father.” That is supremely the heart of God revealed.

PRAYER: Dear Lord, help me to read the Bible with a deeper understanding of your heart, and in every way connect with it. Thank You, Lord.

TO REFLECT UPON: When reading Scripture, do I see how God reveals His heart?