The recent news out of Iraq is alarming. A band of some 1500 jihadists from the Islamic State of Iraq and Greater Syria (ISIS) who were outnumbered more than 15 to 1 took over the whole city of Mosul, released dangerous prisoners and raised the black jihad flag over the city. ISIS’s goal is to redraw the map of the Middle East and create a Sunni state that wages jihad around the world. What is more alarming is the news that European and even some American youth are joining ISIS in the fight! With anger increasing in American males, senseless shootings on the rise, and exponential hours of violent video games, our country seems helpless to deal with the ever hardening and angry hearts of our men!
Why is it so hard for men to get in touch with their heart? Why are so many men more committed to embracing their hardening heart and internal anger rather than getting in touch with their heart? (I know Ladies, these are questions you all have been asking for a long time)
To lose fight is to lose heart. And when men lose heart their heart hardens and anger takes over. Biblical manhood reveals that men are to be Protectors, Providers and Priests. If men’s hearts are disconnected from a compelling battle worth fighting, numbness and hardness quickly take over. This process can be seen all the way back in the Garden of Eden. Where was Adam while Eve was under attack from Satan? Somehow he got lazy and apathetic and lost fight. From then on mankind has been trying to recover their heart. What happened to King David when he decided to send his army out to fight and he stayed home with idle time on his hands? When men’s hearts harden and they lose fight, women become objects to exploit rather than treasures to love and protect.
So, what do we do about this colossal problem? Thanks be to Jesus who came to set our hearts free. Remember, nothing is really changed until the heart is changed. And only Jesus the Savior of our soul can transform our heart. When Jesus encountered Peter He awakened Peter’s heart with the vision of a battle worth fighting for. He told him He would make him a fisher of men, that he would change the world. He called Peter to fight for people’s hearts to be set free by the power of the Holy Spirit.
Here are a few practical questions to help you get in touch with your heart:
· Do you want to get in touch with your heart?
· Are you spending time with God’s Word asking Him to awaken your heart?
· Are you getting time with people who will ask you about your heart and pray for you?
· Are you coming to church with expectation that God will speak into your heart?
There is nothing more important about you than the state of your heart. It determines the quality of your life. It determines your eternity! What are you willing to do to get in touch with your heart – to have it awakened?
