1 Kings 8:46-51
Verse 47 “…and if they have a change of heart in the land where they are held captive, and repent and plead with You in the land of their captors and say, ‘We have sinned, we have done wrong, we have acted wickedly’;”
We continue with King Solomon’s prayer of dedication of the newly built Temple of God. Having said the people had made God angry with their sin, the wise king shows where God’s grace abounds, in forgiveness to the repentant heart. Our key verse shows the humble nature of true repentance. Merely saying we are sorry isn’t enough and if we are honest with ourselves we would admit it.
Solomon makes the point how a change of heart is needed. This change of heart requires some thought on our part. Sin is something we have in our lives on a daily basis, it isn’t something we want to admit is a part of our lives but it is. All of us sin which reflects the state of our heart, stained and idolatrous. We can’t just say we love God and hope to do better. When our heart is the root of the issue, it is the heart which must be dealt with, but how can we know the truth of our heart?
Only God can see the truth of our hearts and His Spirit will reveal and convict us of each sin hidden there. One of the Spirit’s favorite tools for helping us know where we have wandered from our first love is by using the Bible to reveal God’s desires to us. As we talked about the various commandments, we saw how His commands shine the spotlight of holiness into our lives so we can see the deep crevices of our heart where sin hides.
As we study what God wants us to see and know, the Spirit will use the knowledge to point out the things in our lives which go against God not just the things we do or don’t do but also the things we think. Knowledge of sin is important but doing nothing with the knowledge is where the biggest issues arise in our lives. One of the Spirit’s jobs is to convict us but if we ignore Him, it shows our heart is set on ourselves instead of the Lord.
This is the change of heart Solomon was praying about. In the wisdom God had given the king, he knew it would take a change of heart to bring us back into communication with God. Unless we change our heart about our sin we can’t repent of it and if we don’t repent of it, there will be no revival, personal or larger.
Making It Personal
Do you read the Bible with open eyes and heart willing to accept any conviction the Spirit may bring? How do you respond to conviction about your sin? How hard do you find it to change your heart?
Making It Personal Kids
What do you think it means to change your heart about sin? What helps you know you need to change your heart? Is there something you need to change your heart about today?
Closing Prayer
Father, we repent of the times we have simply been sorry about our sin but not changed our hearts about it. Give us hearts which hate sin as much as You do, not just in others but in ourselves too. In Jesus’ name, amen.
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