Yesterday I was studying and came across this phrase “Take it to heart”. For some reason, it moved me to research. I now know why and want to share what I learned.
We are told to take it to heart that Jehovah is the true God. What does that mean? take it seriously? Just know in our heart? That phrase can be a little confusing. In my research I found that there is a direct correlation of mind and heart. We can listen to our heart but “the heart is treacherous…and desperate”… (Jeremiah 17:9), therefore listening to our emotional heart doesn’t always work out and in many cases, can lead to disaster or much heartbreak.
So, what then does this statement mean? When we take something to heart, it involves not only our emotions, but also our mind or rather, our thinking ability. We need to weigh matters, become a detective and investigate, make sure we understand before allowing our emotional heart to get too involved. When we research and prove things to ourselves, not only do we have confidence in what we found, but our heart inevitably is progressively involved because what we learn sinks into our heart and moves us to action. For example, at one point in my life, I had a serious disdain for running, as soon as possible, I stopped doing it. Time passed, I gained a lot of weight, had a lot of stress due to my life circumstances so I began running again for the purpose of losing weight. Over time I began to enjoy getting out to run regularly, my mind told me at first I needed to do it for my health, but once I got my heart involved, it was much more than for my health, it was also a great stress reliever. So, first my mind had to get involved in making the decision, then my heart became involved which convinced me that running was good for me and I started looking forward to it.
In the case of God, “Take it to heart” written in the context of Deuteronomy 4:39, means we should investigate God, when we do, we learn about his qualities such as his dominant quality of love, his wisdom, justice and power. Learning about these qualities, his good reputation and how he treated his faithful servants in the past and his promises for our future, it can help you take to heart that he is the true God. You will also learn that historically “…not one word out of all the good promises that Jehovah your God has spoken to you has failed. They have all come true…” (Joshua 23:14). He has a perfect record of follow through, no other so-called “god” has this record. That is why I have “taken to heart” that he is the one true God.
I hope this short post has reached your heart and if you have not done so, I encourage you to learn about Jehovah (see Psalm 83:18). When you do, you will learn of his unfailing love and mercy and you will gain peace that surpasses human understanding (Philippians 4:7)
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