Good News

What’s in Your Warehouse?

By Pastor Ken Staley Pleasant Grove & Harrisville United Methodist Churches (PastorKenStaley@gmail.com)

Have you ever thought of your heart as a warehouse, a place where things are stored up? Jesus said it is. In Luke Chapter 6, Jesus says, “A good person produces good out of the good stored up in his heart. An evil person produces evil out of the evil stored up in his heart, for his mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. Why do you call me ‘Lord, Lord’ and don’t do the things I say?”

The things that are stored up in our heart will eventually come out. Our speech reveals our underlying beliefs. Jesus told the Pharisees, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts — murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person, but eating with ceremonially unwashed hands does not defile a person.” Our life is not merely a Pharisaical list of rituals that make us right with God. His word is clear. He looks at what comes from the heart. Solomon said in Proverbs 4, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. You are in charge of your heart. You are the boss of what gets in and what gets blocked, what gets coddled and what gets the boot. It’s our decision whether we store up fear or faith, love or hate, bitterness or forgiveness, lust or purity.

When Moses sent out 12 leaders from each tribe to spy out the land, they came back with mixed reviews. Ten of them said the land was good but was filled with giants, and it would be a suicide mission to try and take it. Joshua and Caleb said, “We are well able to take the land.” Ten brought an evil report, and two brought a good report. Each of their reports came from the faith (good) or fear (evil) in their hearts.

So how do we store up good things to produce a good heart? Peter told us in his second epistle: “God has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.” We store up good things to create a good heart through the promises. And where are the promises found? In the Bible. If you don’t like the condition of your heart, get into the promises of God’s word so you can participate in the divine nature. Here’s what we should ask ourselves: “Whose nature will I pursue today, the divine or mine?”

We make the warehouse of our heart good when we heed the Apostle Paul’s advice to the Philippians, “Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise. Keep putting into practice all you learned and received from me — everything you heard from me and saw me doing. Then the God of peace will be with you.”

There are two major takeaways from that verse: fix your thoughts on what is good and follow the example of a spiritually mature role model. Who better to model our lives after than the Lord Jesus himself or Paul or many others found in scripture? One thing is certain: our habits create the condition of our heart. Our lives, our churches, and our country will all be better when we take inventory of the warehouse of our heart and do what is necessary to produce good out of a good heart.