The head can grasp a great deal
which the heart has never comprehended. (1)
.
There was never a more accurate diagnosis of what afflicts us the most in our enlightened state as well educated individuals living in our never ending stream of digital data in the fast-pace, hyper-connected Information Age of today.
This brilliant diagnosis was offered to us by a woman writing to an old friend in 1868.
Head knowledge is a tremendous gift and asset, which we can use to razzle and dazzle our way through the world and achieve success, recognition, honor, and riches.
However, the only knowledge which really counts, is the knowledge that has found a home in our heart. The heart has morals, ethics, and values because it serves as our conscience. The mind contains information without the capacity to sift and weigh the value or goodness of what we know.
The mind’s brilliance has been, in part, the source of our most recent economic downturn:
- A friend tells you that he knows how to get a mortgage on a house you cannot afford.
- A financial guru tells an investor what he knows about how money can be made in derivatives and swapping credit defaults.
- A banker knows how to make more money on fees, bonuses, and stock-options, than on sound lending practices
When we let the mind’s knowledge determine the course of our lives, without the heart comprehending what we are doing, we are always left with a mess.
Deuteronomy 6:4-6 is for Jews the most sacred text of Hebrew Scripture and is a text which Jesus also taught as most sacred and holy:
“Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your might. And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart.” (2)
God commanded that the people love Him with all their heart. Furthermore, this important command was to be on your heart.
I have thousands of dollars invested in my Bible research software. I can exegete, postulate, and repeat information about God and the Bible with the best. However, if my heart is not right with God, this knowledge will be nothing more than a clanging cymbal.
Guard your heart as you fill your mind.
You are what is in your heart.
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Hannah Whitall Smith and Melvin Easterday Dieter, The Christian’s Secret of a Holy Life : The Unpublished Personal Writings of Hannah Whitall Smith (Oak Harbor: Logos Research Systems, Inc., 1997).
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The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton: Standard Bible Society, 2001), Deuteronomy 6:4–6.
Bread Crumbs - Devotions for Life 