8-16-24 - Cultivating a God-Ward Heart

You can listen to this reflection here.

At week’s end let’s turn to Sunday’s epistle reading, still Paul’s letter to the church at Ephesus. This week’s snippet deals with how we cope with challenging times: Be careful then how you live, not as unwise people but as wise, making the most of the time, because the days are evil. So do not be foolish, but understand what the will of the Lord is.

How do we make the most of the time when the days feel evil, when it seems to many like progress toward equity and wholeness has been rolled back on every front? Paul says we should try to understand the will of the Lord. That’s easier said than done, especially if we’re looking for prescriptions from heaven or trying to interpret signs. God’s will is rarely revealed in those ways.

We might focus more on comprehending how and where God is speaking in these times. It’s easy to know where God is not speaking – if the words or actions are contrary to scripture, to what we know of the life, teachings and actions of Jesus. God’s will is often evident wherever we find marks of the Holy Spirit at work, which we recognize by the fruits like love, joy, peace, patience, energy, miracles and such. We can always ask, where do we see good fruit?

Paul also cautions us to maintain a positive climate within and without: Do not get drunk with wine... but be filled with the Spirit, as you sing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs among yourselves, singing and making melody to the Lord in your hearts, giving thanks to God the Father at all times and for everything in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.

As Christ-followers, we are invited to be filled with the Holy Spirit. We do that by cultivating spiritual practices like prayer and worship, scripture and journaling; by going where our hearts are fed – for me, that is certainly my cats and my deck and water and birds. Singing spiritual songs, whether we’re playing them in the car or humming them in the house, is a wonderful way to foster a God-ward heart.

And when our hearts are turned God-ward, we’re more apt to follow the last of Paul’s suggestions: giving thanks to God at all times and for everything in the name of Jesus. The best way to cultivate an orientation toward joy is to foster an attitude of gratitude. Giving thanks is often a verbal exercise, but gratitude need not be limited to what we say or pray. We can give thanks by being generous, by seeking ways to lighten someone else’s load, by choosing to walk around with a smile.

Praise and thanks are choices. Rare is the person whose life has been so harmonious and God-focused that praise and thanks come unbidden to their hearts. We must decide to praise God in all circumstances, even in times that feel evil or threatening. Especially in times that feel evil or threatening! Praise is a way of making God’s power present, invoking the Spirit, who praises through us. 

Praise is a spiritual practice we can learn, and work at, and hone, until it becomes our default position. A heart that praises provides the most hospitable environment for the Holy Spirit to dwell in. And then the times we live in come into perspective.

© Kate Heichler, 2024. To receive Water Daily by email each morning, subscribe here. Here are the bible readings for next Sunday. Water Daily is also a podcast – subscribe to it here on Apple, Spotify or your favorite podcast platform.