TLIC Family. PROVERBS. AUGUST 14: PURE.

THINK TOGETHER.

Have you ever done the right thing but with a wrong heart? 

READ TOGETHER

Proverbs 20:9. Who can say, “I have made my heart pure; I am clean from my sin”?

Solomon is asking one of the most important questions that any of us can ask. Can you make our own hearts pure? Can we cleanse ourselves of our own sins?

And of course the answer is no, we cannot.

The Israelites in the Old Testament knew this. They knew that they had to bring a sacrifice to God for their sins. They had to go to the Tabernacle, or later on the Temple, and bring a lamb, or a cow, or a bird to kill on a huge altar before God. The blood of the animal would cleanse them from their sins and guilt before God.

But the problem is that, even if you make a sacrifice like that, your heart might still be impure. In fact, the Bible is full of times when God yelled at his people for making all the right sacrifices without having a changed heart, a heart of love for God and others. Sacrifices to God might have removed their guilt before God, but they didn’t change the heart.

Have you ever done the right thing, but with a wrong heart attitude?

This is why Jesus is so much better than the animal sacrifices at the Temple altar. When we trust in Jesus and his sacrifice, yes, it removes all of our guilt just like the animal sacrifices did, but it does so much more. When we trust in Jesus, he moves into our heart by the Holy Spirit. He lives in our heart now! That means all his love, and kindness, and peace live there too. Our sins are now forgiven AND our hearts are changed. Paul will say in Romans 6 that with Jesus we obey “from the heart.” That’s great news!

Because of Jesus we have a new heart that wants to obey.

With Jesus we obey from the heart.  

DO SOMETHING TOGETHER

Read Romans 6:17 together. Maybe make this a family memory verse. Talk about the difference between obeying and obeying from the heart.

PRAY TOGETHER

Jesus, you live in my heart. Now I can obey from a heart attitude that wants to obey because I love you. Thank you for this great gift. Amen.