I am loving my stroll through the Sermon on the Mount. My Bible divides it into 19 passages. I am not going through all 19 passages, but I am stopping along the way when one tugs at my heart. When I do stop, I ask myself that two-word question, “Am I?”
Today I sat for a while in Matthew 5:21-30. My Bible titles those two passages, “Murder Begins in the Heart,” and “Adultery Begins in the Heart.”
My question this morning is, “Am I monitoring the condition of my heart regularly?”
In another part of Matthew, Jesus spoke about a storehouse, a place of treasure. “For the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. A good man produces good things from his storeroom of good, and an evil man produces evil things from his storeroom of evil.” [Matthew 12:34-35 HCSB]
Our hearts will either be storerooms of good, or storerooms of evil. It is from our hearts that we both speak and act. We have a choice what we allow to remain in our hearts. That means we need to be monitoring our heart’s condition regularly.
If we find ourselves angry or bitter, if we find ourselves judging others with unkind words, it is time to look into our storeroom and see what is there—good or evil. Then we might just need a time of repentance and confession, knowing that God is willing to forgive.
