Close Reminder!

When things are written down on a piece of paper, it is easy for that paper to get misplaced and what is written there to be forgotten. Today, post-it-notes have become handy reminders since they can be placed where we are most likely to see them: on the mirror, on a door, on the dashboard of the car, etc. Then there are electronic calendars which sound alarms to remind of appointments and tasks to be done. Some things are too important to be left without a close reminder.

When Moses was given the tablets on which were written the ten commandments (the testimony from God), they were placed in the ark of the covenant -- a very holy place -- for safekeeping. ( Exodus 40:20) However, all the commands of God were to be kept before the people so that they would remember and obey them. More than being written down, the greatest benefit would have been found in them REMAINING ON THE HEART.

In contrasting the old covenant with the new covenant (that the old was looking toward as the shadow of the substance of the new) the writer of Hebrews stated in a quote from Jeremiah 31:31-34 . . .

"(10) For this is the covenant that I will make with the house of Israel after those days, declares the Lord: I will PUT MY LAWS INTO THEIR MINDS, AND WRITE THEM ON THEIR HEARTS, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people." ( Hebrews 8:10 ESV)

And when Paul noted the manner in which the Corinthians had responded to the message, he wrote. . .

"(3) And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, NOT ON TABLETS OF STONE BUT ON TABLETS OF HUMAN HEARTS." ( 2 Corinthians 3:3 ESV)

In spite of the blessing we have today of having one or more Bibles close at hand, the Scriptures are still often neglected. We might take real good care of our Bibles, but the place for that writing to remain fresh is still in our MINDS and HEARTS! God's message is to be continually kept in MIND and taken to HEART so our life may continually produce righteous fruit. As Christians, God's commands and His Will should be more embodied in our daily lives than to merely appear to the world as written rules and regulations or rituals of which we go through the motions. As new creations in Christ ( 2 Corinthians 5:17) we are to have a new nature in harmony with the Divine will and thus a disposition that powerfully inclines us toward loving obedience. Living daily life based on the wisdom of God can be a powerful testimony that God's Word is not archaic, but still very relevant to life today. In fact its lasting relevancy is a sign of it being God's Word rather than man's. May we keep it closer than the written page so that life is lived by the message of God written in our MIND and on our HEART. That "implanted word" ( James 1:21) can keep us moving in the right manner and direction.

Have a great day MINDING GOD'S WRITING ON THE HEART!
Carl

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