What’s Beneath The Surface?
One day while visiting one of our Simmons plants, I noticed some pictures on the wall in the waiting area with special captions written on them. Each one of these captions had a special message to be applied to life. One of these was a picture of an iceberg in the ocean, and you could see part of the iceberg out of the water and a huge part beneath the water. As I looked at it, this title came to me that is appropriate for anyone to ask himself, “What’s Beneath The Surface.”
There is an internal and external to everyone. The internal is actually the real you. The apostle Paul shares with us, recorded in II Corinthians 5:1-6, that this physical body is like a tent that the Lord has given us to live in while here on earth. “Now we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands.”
“As one thinks in his heart so is he . . .” Proverbs 23:7 (KJV) The context of this passage teaches that one should consider the true motivations of a person who is being uncharacteristically generous before he accepts his generosity. This passage also embraces the “whole of man’s being.” In Ephesians the apostle Paul describes the “real you” by the phrase “inner being.” “I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being.” Jesus said, “But the things that come out of a person’s mouth come from the heart, and these defile him.” Matthew 15:18
When the Bible speaks about the heart of man in Matthew 5:18, it is not talking about the organ that pumps the blood through the body, but it speaks of the center of your being, the core of who you are. Your heart is where our deepest commitments lie. In the heart is where we find the answers to what we stand for. In your heart are yearnings and longings. From your heart come fears and sorrows, and heart pains that shape us and become part of who we are. It is in your heart where you can carry evil intentions or from where you can express real genuine love. That is why Jesus said the first and greatest command is, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” The very whole of man’s being. He also said the second commandment is like it, “Love your neighbor as yourself.”
It is important to heed what Proverbs said, “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the well-spring of life.” As you guard your heart, not only are you careful about what affects you from without, but also careful about what you say and do. By this, you are keeping your priorities straight. You are carefully evaluating the affect of things that “the world” has on your life. You are able to keep pride in check, and to ward off such things as envy, immorality, anger, hatred, bitterness, and much more that can be harmful to the person you are. By guarding your heart, keeping these things out, you can better reflect love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, gentleness, faithfulness, and self control.
Prayer: Father, thank you that Christ Jesus dwells in me through faith. I long to be rooted and established in love. I long to be filled with all the fullness of the Holy God You are.