Today’s Reading

I Kings 10-11; Luke 24:1-35

Selected Verses

And the Lord was angry with Solomon, because his heart had turned away from the Lord, the God of Israel, who had appeared to him twice and had commanded him concerning this thing, that he should not go after other gods. But he did not keep what the Lord commanded. I Kings 11:9-10

And he said to them, “O foolish ones, and slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken! Was it not necessary that the Christ should suffer these things and enter into his glory?” And beginning with Moses and all the Prophets, he interpreted to them in all the Scriptures the things concerning himself. Luke 24:25-27

Reflections

J C Ryle wrote: “True faith does not depend merely on the state of man’s head and understanding, but on the state of his heart. His mind may be convinced. His conscience may be pierced. But so long as there is anything the man is secretly loving more than God, there will be no true faith.”

Solomon’s heart “had turned away from the Lord” and he had gone after other gods. Did all those pagan wives and concubines have anything to do with this? Of course (I Kings 11:3-4). But no one forced Solomon to marry all those unbelievers. He did it because his heart was either already turned away from the Lord or he was willing for it to be turned away. As a result, God diminished his legacy.

The disciples walking to Emmaus had lost hope that Jesus whom they believed to be dead would redeem Israel. Jesus told them they were foolish and “slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken.” How many times had He told them He would rise on the third day? So Jesus spent the rest of the evening explaining to them how the Scriptures pointed to Him and to the things that had happened. Nothing had gone wrong except the hearts of the disciples that were slow to believe the truth of the resurrection.

Think about it

God promised to give His people changed hearts--hearts of flesh not stone (Ezekiel 36:26). He did give new hearts to the disciples as Jesus opened the Scriptures to them. Has God given you a new heart, one that is turned toward the Lord and that is quick to believe? If not, call upon Him for mercy and grace to receive new life and a new heart that loves Him and believes Him. The heart is the problem, but God can give you a new one.

© 2017 John A Carroll Used by permission