The title is a loaded statement assuming that I would know the deal…the real deal. Alas, I do not know the real deal, but I do know who the BIG DEAL is. And no, I didn’t stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night (sorry if you missed that travel ad joke).
It seems as though the entire world is upside down with shootings, bombings, refugee crisis’, war, politics, and the lists go on and on.
We live in a culture now seeking to find what somebody is doing wrong and celebrate the fact that we’ve caught someone. We measure people and organizations on their merit, track record, actions, and reactions. We’ve set unattainable expectations on educators, law enforcement officials, neighbors, churches, and families. We rapidly reward winners in our scoreboard equation of life and pile onto the publicly ridiculed loser to the degree that they cannot come out for air, lest we shoot the gap and charge forward with our pitchforks. I’m guilty, and so are you. There must be a better way to tally up this life and see if we are winning.
Finally, after that rant – HERE’S THE REAL DEAL!
Somehow we skipped over one of God’s greatest gifts. The Divine has assured us that every teaching that His Son left with us is a MATTER OF THE HEART! That’s right! A matter of the heart. Pick the issue.
Money? Matter of the Heart.
Marriage? Matter of the Heart.
Sex? Matter of the Heart.
Career? Matter of the Heart.
Serving? Matter of the Heart.
Politics? Matter of the Heart.
I know that you are tempted to stop me right here and say, “that’s an oversimplification of some pretty gnarly issues, Chuck.” Yes, yes indeed it is. And yet, Jesus set all things right side up as He unpacked a New Deal for us to live under. In this New Deal, everything is a matter of the heart.
He doesn’t make us love Him; He lets us choose.
He doesn’t need our money; He celebrates our willing hearts as we sacrificially give.
He doesn’t keep pleasure from us; He wants us to enjoy it to the fullest.
He doesn’t want our jobs to consume us; He longs for us to prioritize well. He’s number one!
He doesn’t make us slaves; He frees us to serve those in need, with great joy.
He never asked us to slam the other party; He directed us to pray for our leaders.
Can you see it? Every single issue that you can imagine, when put through the filter of Jesus and His teachings lead to one VERY BIG DEAL – IT’S ALL A MATTER OF THE HEART!
Do you need a heart scan or even a bypass operation? Check your heart at the close of this read and see if The Divine will perform a little surgery on your heart today. This, friends, is a VERY, VERY BIG DEAL!
—Chuck
