King of Hearts
1 Kings – probably not the first book you would choose to go study. Many of the Old Testament books of history have a bad rep – they are too long, too hard, and too boring. NOT TRUE! Even so, I know that Leviticus, Numbers, and the likes have been the grave yards of “read the Bible in a year” plans.
Oh but friends, if you will just muster up a little perseverance, you will find some jewels in these books. For example, I was fully expecting to find 1 Kings full of chapters about the Law or about endless genealogies. But so far, that has not been true! As I study inductively and mark key words with colored pencils, I find myself repeatedly marking heart, turn, and forgive, especially in chapter 8. These words were totally unexpected to me in 1 Kings!
That revealed something huge in my mind – God is the King of hearts! Even before Christ came to this earth, God was concerned about our heart condition.
So many things in the Old Testament externally foreshadowed what Jesus would do for us internally. Just a few examples:
| Old Testament – The Law (external) | New Testament – Jesus (internal) |
| Priests’ turbans had the inscription across their forehead “HOLY TO THE LORD” (Ex. 28:36) | Believers in Christ have the Holy Spirit living in them (1 Corinthians 3:16) |
| Circumcision of Jews identified them as God’s chosen people (Genesis 17:10) | Christ followers have a circumcised heart (Romans 2:29) |
| The Law was written on stone tablets (Exodus 34:1) | The law is written on our hearts (Hebrews 10:16) |
Even during the Old Testament times when external markings identified a person as being in covenant with God, He was still examining hearts. A word of advice for saints of old and and saints of now – “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life” ~ Proverbs 4:23.
So tell me…what book of the Bible are you scared to dive into?
Hi SS sister! Wonderful post! Love the chart in the middle too :). For me:Leviticus…um that one overwhelms me. Have you studied it before? Thanks for helping me to focus on the King of Hearts tonight. Blessings:)
Hey Tracy – thanks for your comments. Let’s see…according to how far I have marked up Leviticus, I made it through chapter 20. Yes – Leviticus is a tough one because of the laws about cleanliness. But I absolutely adore chapters 9 & 10. They give me the holy heebie jeebies 🙂 Hope everything has settled for you at home since SS! I am guessing that baby is all well!