A heart like his

Suppose Jesus takes your place for one day! He wakes up in your bed, slips into your shoes, lives in your house, takes over your schedule. Your boss will be his boss, your mother will be his mother, your pain will be his pain! With one exception, nothing changes in your life. Your health doesn't change. The circumstances don't change. Your schedule remains the same. Your problems are not solved. Only a single change occurs. Accepted for one day and one night, Jesus guides your life with his heart. Your heart gets a day off and your life is led by the heart of Christ. His priorities determine what you do. Your decisions are shaped by his desires. His love directs your behavior.

What kind of person would you be then? Would others notice a change? Her family - would she notice anything new? Would your work colleagues notice a difference? And those less fortunate? Would you treat them the same? Her friends? Would they discover more joy? And your enemies? Would they receive more mercy from Christ’s heart than from yours?

And you? How would you feel? Would this change impact your stress levels? Your mood swings? Your mood? Would you sleep better? Would you get a different take on a sunset? To death? About taxes? Maybe you need less aspirin or sedatives? And how would you react to traffic congestion? Would you still be afraid of the same things? Or rather, would you still do what you're doing right now?

Would you still do what you planned to do for the next twenty-four hours? Stop for a moment and rethink your schedule. Commitments. appointments. trips. Events. Would anything change if Jesus took over your heart? Address these questions. Visualize how Jesus leads your life. Then you will know what God wants. God wants them to think and act like Jesus Christ: “Be of such a mind among yourselves, according to the fellowship of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 2,5).

God's plan for you is nothing less than a new heart. If you were a car, God would demand dominion over your engine. If you were a computer, it would claim ownership of the software and operating system. If you were an airplane, he would sit in the pilot's seat. But you are human, and therefore God wants to change your heart. “Put on the new man, whom God created in his own image, living righteously and holy by the truth of God” (Ephesians 4,23-24). God wants you to be like Jesus. He wants you to have a heart like His.

Now I'm going to take a risk. It is dangerous to summarize great truths in a short statement, but I will try. If it were possible to express God's desire for each of us in a sentence or two, perhaps it could be said this way: God loves you as you are, but He doesn't want to leave you as you are. He wants you to become like Jesus.

God loves you just as you are. If you think he would love you more if your faith were stronger, you are mistaken. If you think that his love would be deeper if your thoughts were deeper, you are also mistaken. Do not confuse God's love with human love. People's love often increases depending on their performance and decreases when they make mistakes - God's love does not. He loves you in your current state. God's love never ends. Never. Even if we spurn him, take no notice of him, reject him, despise him and disobey him. He doesn't change. Our iniquities cannot diminish his love. Our honor cannot make His love greater. Our faith deserves it no more than our stupidity can question it. God loves us no less when we fail and no more when we succeed. God's love never ends.

God loves you the way you are, but he doesn't want to leave you the way you are. When my daughter Jenna was little, I often took her to the park near our apartment. One day while she was playing in the sandbox, an ice cream vendor came by. I bought her an ice cream and wanted to give it to her. Then I saw that her mouth was full of sand. Did I love her with the sand in her mouth? Most certainly. Was she less of my daughter with the sand in her mouth? Of course not. Would I let her keep the sand in her mouth? Absolutely not. I loved her in her current state, but I didn't want to leave her in that state. I carried her to the water fountain and washed out her mouth. Why? Because I love her.

God does the same for us. He holds us over the water fountain. Spit out the dirt, he urges us. I have something better for you. And so he cleanses us from filth: from immorality, dishonesty, prejudice, bitterness, greed. We hardly enjoy the cleaning process; sometimes we even choose the dirt and against the ice. I can eat dirt if I want! we proclaim defiantly. That's correct. But we are cutting ourselves into the flesh. God has a better offer. He wants us to be like Jesus.
Isn't that good news? You are not stuck in your current nature. You are not condemned to be ill-tempered. They are changeable. Even if there hasn't been a day in your life without worrying, you don't need to toughen yourself up for the rest of your life. And if you were born a hypocrite, you need not die as such.
How did we get the idea that we can't change? Where do statements like: It is in my nature to worry or: I will always be a pessimist come from. That's just me, right: I got angry. It's not my fault that I react this way? Who says that? If we said about our bodies: “It is in my nature that I have a broken leg. I can not change it." Of course not. When our bodies function poorly, we seek help. Shouldn't we do the same with our hearts? Shouldn't we seek help for our grumpy nature? Can’t we seek treatment for our self-absorbed talking? Of course we can. Jesus can change our hearts. He wants us to have a heart like Him. Can you imagine a better offer?

by Max Lucado

This text was taken from the book “When God changes your life” by Max Lucado, which was published by SCM Hänssler ©2013. Max Lucado is the long-time pastor of Oak Hills Church in San Antonio, Texas. Used with permission.

More articles about the heart:

A new heart   Our Heart - A Letter from Christ