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Filling the Heart or Fulfilling It?

Wherever your treasure is, there the desires of your heart will also be. Matthew 6:21


Those words, spoken roughly 2,000 years ago, are ever-present in my mind. The idea of the heart, in a philosophical and theological sense, is such a mystery to me. It’s the center of ourselves, where everything flows. In our mind we can try to cover up the deeper parts of us, but in the heart, it cannot be hidden. We try often to change how we appear to others (how we speak, how we act) but we ignore the state of our heart, which is what the Lord really looks at (1 Sam 16). The changes we make to ourselves will only change how we appear to others, but Jesus changes us at our core.


The fact of the matter is, we will only find fulfillment in ourselves by denying ourselves, and entrusting the Holy Spirit to change our hearts. Through Jesus we are able to cease the journey of “finding ourselves” and instead, encounter Him. We can be still, cease striving, and let Him change the core of who we are through His finished work on the cross. We can give up our fleeting treasures, which are standing on shaky ground, in constant risk of being stolen or lost, and we can put our trust in a sure future. In turn, the desires of our heart will be fulfilled, because we already know that we are on our way Home. No matter what happens in life, we know where we are going. We can find rest, peace, and joy in the midst of the chaos of life because we know all of it is fleeting compared to what is coming.


So that brings us to the main question, are you filling your heart or fulfilling it? Are you seeking treasure in worldly things like relationships, jobs, grades, sports? None of these things are bad, but they shouldn’t be what we put our hope in. They shouldn’t be what we put our anxiety in, either. Notice how with all of these things, no matter how successful we are in these areas, we still feel empty. We still have a God-shaped hole in our hearts. We aren’t fulfilled, and we aren’t living out our purpose.


People who are fulfilled by the power of the Holy Spirit, though, are secure. Nobody can take their peace away from them. Take Paul, for example. People didn’t know what the heck to do with him, because if they killed him, he’d be happy because he would no longer be apart from his King. If he was tortured, great! That brought him closer to the suffering Christ dealt with. And if they did neither? Then Paul could share the gospel and the love of Jesus with others for a little while longer. I don’t think we should treat this example as impossible to live out. Everyday we are able to make the choice to fill our hearts with what doesn’t matter…or fulfill our hearts with what does.

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