From the Head to the Heart
“For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart.” (Heb 4:12)
The Bible is the most powerful piece of literature in all of history.
Not because of the style or its organization but because God chooses to speak to humanity through it, and communicate His perfect love.
As a result, we are invited to read and dive deeper into understanding these words of truth.
We may have heard the phrase “the head to the heart.” In referring to studying the Scriptures, often it is speaking about the process in which we start with accumulating knowledge about the Bible in our heads, and it progresses to having that truth of God affect every part of our lives, making its way to the heart.
We learn and study the Scriptures so that it can penetrate our hearts. The evidence for this is that it changes our lives forever. Obedience becomes a priority in our lives, not marked by perfection but by grace. In this, we love God not just our words but in action as a response for His great love for us.
In this, we are investing in a loving relationship with our God, have a passion for Him, and desire to live a life of enjoying Him. This is done by praying, reading the Bible, and worshiping. It goes beyond the mere intellect and infects the heart, making it to our hands in holy action.
Therefore, there is a clear difference between knowing about God and truly knowing Him as Father and Lord in our lives.
Some Christians look for a particular feeling before diving into Scripture. Feelings are not bad, for they are natural in how God made us. But the issues arise when choosing to rely solely on them and neglect the former. The consequence is a decline in knowing and meditating on the truth of His Word, leading to a lack of openness for God to speak to our hearts.
Jonathan Edwards, pastor, and theologian, once wrote:
“Such is the nature of man, that no object can come at the heart but through the door of understanding: and there can be no spiritual knowledge of that of which there is not first rational knowledge.”[1]
In other words, learning about our God is the gateway from which it can impact our hearts, allowing the Holy Spirit to work in us.
Not that we must understand everything to have a genuine relationship with God. We never will this side of heaven. Or that we cannot grow in knowledge once we are saved. It simply means that the idea of teaching others the truth of who Jesus is and continuing to grow in our understanding of who God is is significant. From this place of learning, the heart is ignited.
But the truths of the head and the heart fit together beautifully. A heart set ablaze with the truth found in God’s word is one of the greatest, most powerful miracles we can ever encounter. For it is the very work of the Holy Spirit Himself.
Engaging with God’s Word is also an expression of love (Matt. 22:37). Our actions state that our relationship with the Lord is so meaningful that we are using our minds to contemplate the things of God.
As believers living in a broken world, we desperately need to be reminded of His great love. Through Jesus Christ, we have been given hope.
How does this look in everyday living? It could be meditating on one specific passage. Or maybe you choose to listen to the Bible through an app on your way to work. Perhaps it is studying in depth a section of Scripture, going to the root languages, and uncovering what is being communicated.
We are all crafted differently, and there are a variety of ways in which we can choose to go deeper in our knowledge of God. So, however you spend your time this week, I pray that this encourages you to keep studying those timeless, powerful words of life.
In Christ,
[1] Jonathan Edwards, Jonathan Edwards on Knowing Christ (Banner of Truth Trust, 1990).15.