19^th October

“Then Christ will make His home in your hearts as you trust in Him. Your roots will grow down into God’s love and keep you strong. And you may have the power to understand, as God’s people should, how wide, how long, how high, and how deep His love is.”

Ephesians 3:17-18

It is an amazing phenomenon that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, lives in our hearts. Yet what does living in our hearts mean? Of course it doesn’t mean that Jesus has built a physical house in our hearts, although that imagery could be used to explain it’s meaning.

In Ancient times the heart was the root of all feeling, emotions, your will, your conscience, and the centre of your being. It was the base of a person’s existence. It is from the heart that the issues of life flowed. When Jesus summarised the whole of the Old Testament Law for the inquisitive pharisee in Luke 10:27, His command was that one should “Love the Lord your God will all your heart….”

Jesus making His home in our hearts implies a complete and total surrender to Him. It means that we have opened up the deepest parts of our lives and invited Jesus to come and take the reigns, take control and lead our lives, our emotions, our conscience and the centre of who we are. Furthermore, His love in us, not only guides us in all of the above, but opens our understanding to who God is too and how much He loves us. He gives us the power to understand His heart for us! That is grace!

Today will you open your heart for Him? Will you allow Christ to make His home in your heart?