"Hear, O Israel, the Lord is our God, the Lord is one, and as for you, you shall love the Lord your God with all of your heart, with all of your soul, and with all of your strength."
Deuteronomy 6:4-5
Our understanding of the word "heart" is a little different than the early hearers of the Old Testament. The word, "lev", encompassed more than just an organ pumping blood to all parts of the body. It actually has a much broader understanding, including thoughts, emotions, and choices. When the Shema says we should love the Lord with all of our heart, it can mean the place where we KNOW and understand things, the place we find wisdom, where we feel things, or make choices based on desires.
The heart, or lev, is the center of who we are.
But the Bible also tells us some other things about the heart.
Jeremiah 17:9 says "the heart is deceitful"
Deuteronomy 30:6 says our hearts need to be circumcised.
Ezekiel 36:26 describes the heart of stone in us, that God promises to exchange with a heart of flesh.
Every day as the Israelites recited the Shema, Deut 6:4-5, they were challenged to surrender every part of their lives to loving God - their feelings, decisions, understanding.....kind of like a filter for living lives as followers of Jesus.
What does that look like for me?
surrendering my responses when frustrated
surrendering my impulses, cravings and desires
surrendering my thought life, judgements, and grudges
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