May this New Year be a time of Preparation?

Romans 10:9-10
9 That if you confess with your mouth, "Jesus is Lord," and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.
10 For it is with your heart that you believe and are justified, and it is with your mouth that you confess and are saved.

How many times has your heart deceived you. Your brain was saying something else, your brain knew the facts but you followed through on something your heart told you to do and it was wrong. Relatively few people are determined to do evil. They don't wake up in the morning seeking ways to transgress. Rather, they fall into sin because they have not prepared their hearts to seek the Lord.

During the time I have been in ministry, I have known many people who genuinely loved the Lord at one time and were excited about the things of God, yet they grew cold and, in many cases, completely abandoned the Lord and the things that were once so dear to them. How can this be? Why does this happen? It's because they didn't prepare their hearts to seek the Lord.

The word "prepare" means "to establish, fix, prepare, or apply." It conveys the idea of deliberate effort over a prolonged period of time. The same Hebrew word that was translated "prepare" was also translated "fixed" four times in the Old Testament.

The word "fixed" means: "1. firmly, in position; stationary 2. Not subject to change or variation; constant 3. Firmly held in the mind; a fixed notion" (American Heritage Dictionary). One of the keys to preparing our hearts is to fix our hearts on what we will and will not do before we encounter the temptation. You can settle what you would do so that there are no options left when the temptation comes. Far too often, Christians have not made strong enough commitments and, therefore, succumb to temptation.

Of course, no one can accomplish preparing their heart on their own. This is not a matter of sheer "will power." God must be involved in preparing our hearts. Psalm 10:17 says, "LORD, thou hast heard the desire of the humble: thou wilt prepare their heart." Only when we trust in the Lord and depend on Him can we find the strength to make our hearts not subject to change or variation. Humility is an essential ingredient in the preparation of our hearts.

Proverbs 16:18 says, "Pride goeth before destruction, and an haughty spirit before a fall." Anytime anyone falls from their steadfast position in the Lord, you can bet that they got out of humbly depending on the Lord. Humility has to be forsaken, or at least neglected, before we fall. A humble heart makes a soft, sensitive heart.

The power of memory is a vital part of preparing our own hearts. The Lord warned the children of Israel not to forget the mighty works He had performed for them lest they turn away from following Him. He linked memory to staying true to the Lord.

No one who was dominated with thoughts of the goodness and faithfulness of the Lord would turn their back on the Lord. To turn from the Lord, Satan has to divert our attention from the Lord and block the memories of God's goodness to us. Keeping our positive memories alive will keep our hearts knit to the Lord.