It ‘ s all about the heart (2 Kings 9-11)

On Monday night I had an unexpected visit from a few Mormons who were canvassing the neighborhood.  At the time when they rang the doorbell I was getting ready to fry a turkey for dinner, so I invited them around back to chat while the turkey was being fried.  I have to confess that I don't know nearly enough about their beliefs, but I do know enough to give them a few things to think about.  Of particular interest to me is the importance that they place on being a "good" person by dotting all of their I's and crossing all of their T's.  While it's a nice thought that being "good" makes a personal acceptable to God, it's not a Biblical idea.  Rather than "good" actions, God desires a pure heart.  That was the problem Jehu faced: his heart was not where it was supposed to be.  He did a lot of "good" things, but his heart wasn't surrendered to the Lord.  Certainly a heart that is surrendered to the Lord will produce good things (as Paul explains with the fruit of the Spirit), but those come as a result of the changed heart.  Those actions in and of themselves will not change a heart.  God cares about the heart so much more than he cares about actions.  As Jesus taught us, from the overflow of the heart the mouth speaks, and from the words of the mouth our actions are derived.  We must seek to purify our hearts before the Lord.