It’s exciting to have a new church theme again. It’s like we’ve been walking on all year long and now it’s time to have a drink of water from a river to quench our thirst!
But seriously, I think the theme verse for 2013 is very fitting: “Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.” -John 7:38
So the question remains: what flows from your heart?
Ideally we would love to be able to say that out of our hearts flow said rivers of living water. But is this actually the case?
We tend to regularly go on Facebook and check out the newsfeed of those we are connected with. And you might habitually click “like” on several status updates: this person got engaged, that person had a baby, you like a baby photo, then another picture, your eyes feast upon some delectable dessert that defies gravity… You get the gist. Yes, we post a lot of information about ourselves online nowadays, whether it’s Facebook, Twitter, or another medium. I admit that I too am guilty of constant public declaration of whatever I’ve been doing.
Does the activity we share online actually reflect what flows from our hearts? Perhaps. Yet perhaps not completely. We might want to hide the fact that we said something hurtful to someone yesterday. Or we might not want to post the picture up of that disastrous failure of a burnt cake. Or truth is, we sinned against God last night. There are a lot of things we’re not proud of. Things we want to be hush hush about and pretend never happened.
What flows from your heart? Is it pride? Things you want to show off? Your achievements? A bad attitude? Bitterness? Or is it love? Words that encourage one another and put God first and foremost?
With that in mind, I’ve taken another hard look at my timeline and profile page. I’ve come to realise what flows from my heart, and let’s just say it’s not that nice after all. But as it’s the new year, I guess now is a great opportunity to pray a prayer of “Lord, please change my heart so that it will flow rivers of living water.”
And so let me ask you, reader, what flows from your heart?
These were some thoughts written by Ansy reflecting on this past week’s message Life Alive. Message, worship & study are available on our Sunday Messages page.