Heart to Heart Folks

[HKHaugan]

“His Heart’s Not in It.” You’ve heard that expression I’m sure. It’s all about the heart and where we are when the heart is called upon.

When I was coaching soccer we had a new crop of boys at the beginning of each season. There were four kinds.

First, it was not unusual to see boys come out who wanted to play but when they found out it was going to require personal discipline to really play and run well they would tend to make excuses and slack off. It was more important to be on the team than to really do well in it.

Second, there were those who had really great athletic skills but because they were more skilled than those around them they would only do enough to stay ahead in practice.

Third, there were always others who wanted to play but simply were not physically able no matter how hard they tried. And some of them dropped out. But those that stayed were still included, cared for and equally trained just because they were willing to take part.

Fourth, there were those who really dug in, heard what the program was, set personal goals and excelled even when they were not the most skilled. They were the ones who had a passion for their chosen sport and the ones who could be relied on when the game got tough. Even if we lost it was their inner resolve, their passion, their heart that carried the team. They had ‘heart.’

These are four conditions that can be found in most every human activity where a group of people are called on to be a part of the group’s goal. Now read the following passage, Matthew 13:1-9:
“That same day Jesus went out of the house and sat by the lake. 2 Such large crowds gathered around him that he got into a boat and sat in it, while all the people stood on the shore. 3 Then he told them many things in parables, saying: “A farmer went out to sow his seed. 4 As he was scattering the seed, some fell along the path, and the birds came and ate it up. 5 Some fell on rocky places, where it did not have much soil. It sprang up quickly, because the soil was shallow. 6 But when the sun came up, the plants were scorched, and they withered because they had no root.7 Other seed fell among thorns, which grew up and choked the plants. 8 Still other seed fell on good soil, where it produced a crop—a hundred, sixty or thirty times what was sown. 9 Whoever has ears, let them hear.”

When God asked Adam “Where are you?’ it was a question for every human being that would ever live. It was a heart question. Is our heart in Him, our passion, our resolve in Him? It’s time to place our heart next to the heart of Jesus.