For the last month we have had meaningful messages on how to recognize and know God. As we have been reading Bible passages and singing songs, I have become aware of how often the heart is mentioned.

First of all, we are all here because we have a heart. My commentary tells me that "the heart is the center of all operations of human life." The heart gives us life—it beats regularly to help us breathe and pumps the blood to sustain our nerves and muscles. Do you know that by the time you are 50, your heart will have beat over 1,840,000, 000 times? It will have pumped over 13,600,000 gallons of blood?

As I was thinking about this muscle which gives us life, phrases came to my mind that made me realize how much we base our thinking and acting on the heart.

I heard an advertisement for having us watch the women's national basketball game on TV—and it's advertised as "all about heart." Wedding vows imply that we are giving our heart to someone. And, of course, one of the special days on our calendar is Heart Day—February 14th.

Then, as I turned to the Scriptures, I found many verses where "heart" is mentioned—many different messages but all based on the thought that we are more than physical beings—we are spiritual beings, children of God, and that the true self is one that lets God's love work in our hearts.

Psalm 24 has these familiar words: "Who shall ascend the hill of the Lord? And who shall stand in His holy place? Those who have clean hands and pure hearts."

And the Beatitudes, which we all learned, says, "Blessed are the pure in heart for they will see God."

Then, in Psalm 78, we read about God's servant David. It says, "He chose his servant David, and took him from the sheepfold to be the shepherd of his people Jacob, of Israel, his inheritance. With upright heart he tended them."

How do we attain a pure and upright heart?

We are told in the Scripture that we cannot let pride and conceit stand in the way. Certainly David did not let pride nor conceit deny God's call. We must have a humble heart.

How about the caring heart which reaches out and helps others? It starts and is nurtured in the home—children, parents, grandparents—where we have been cared for and learn how to reach out and care for others. In this way we grow morally.

This church is certainly a witness to many who have a caring heart as it reaches out to children, families, and the community. I wish we could have a sharing session because I am sure you have thought of times or incidents when having a heart has made all the difference. We can look back to our childhood and remember family and love from the heart. We can remember how the church has nurtured our hearts in love, from the time we started Sunday School as children, through our desire to be baptized, and our commitments to serve. We learned that getting involved in materialistic things doesn't satisfy and can keep us from experiencing the spiritual.

We have all heard of miracle changes and healings because of a "change of heart." I was reading about young George Bush, who is running for the presidency. He tells how he decided to give up drinking alcohol which was beginning to control his life. And he now says, "If you change your heart, you can change your behavior."

We can testify that when we want to change as a person and be regenerated, it has to be in the heart. This is the message we sing about, listen to, and pray about as we come to worship. Jeremiah tells us God said: "For surely I know the plans I have for you. When you call upon me and come and pray to me, I will hear you. When you search for me, you will find me; if you seek me with all your heart, I will let you find me."

The president of our Resident Council at Tudor Oaks was a nun in a convent for 28 years. Then she left the order. When I mentioned I had just been called by our pastor to preach, she asked what I was going to preach about, and I told her I had been thinking of the commitment we make with our hearts. She gave me the devotional reading she had just read that morning: "A missionary was translating the Bible into Songhai. Unable to find a word for 'to believe,' he asked a native how to translate it. The native thought a second and said, 'It means to hear with the heart.' That's a perfect translation. For God doesn't speak with a physical voice, but with a spiritual voice—one that can be heard by the heart. We can't always trust what we hear with our ears, but we can always trust what we hear with our heart."

The Lord does not see as mortals see;
they look on the outward appearance,
but the Lord looks on the heart.
1 Samuel 16:7