The Heart of the Converted

“He will turn again, he will have compassion upon us; he will subdue our iniquities; and thou wilt cast all their sins into the depths of the sea.” (Mic 7:19 AV)

Have you ever heard it of said of a person, “Well, at least their heart was in the right place?”  It is meant as a statement of grace after someone messed up.  They are said to have done something wrong, but in their heart of hearts, there was no malice or evil intent as motive for what they had done.  You might also hear said of a person who has passed, “Well, he had a good heart”, which means somewhat the same thing.  They may not have lived a life that was the most exemplary, but they were a person of good nature and intent in the inward spirit.  This passage reminds me of such a person.  The person that always meant well, or in the deepest of their heart, the wanted to do right, but they just didn’t find the means to do this.

Micah’s message is a balance between Israel’s mistakes and the promise of God to reconcile them and convert them.  In particular, the promise of the Messiah coming through Bethlehem appears in this book.  The statement above goes to the heart of what the LORD chose Israel to begin with.  In their heart of hearts, they are in conflict.  They want to do the right thing.  However, they fail time and again.  This mirrors the experience of the believer as Paul describes it in Romans chapter seven.  We wrestle with sin because our new nature despises it.  We want nothing of it.  We want to be glorified by the work of the Spirit to permanently be like Christ.  We want to cease this battle of failure.  We want the day to come when we no longer have to ask for forgiveness.  This is exactly what is revealed above.  Israel will get to the point where she has had enough of the sin of this life.  She will want the Messiah without a fancy side-show of miracles.  They will look upon Him whom they have pierced and conclude they missed a great opportunity the first time but will not the second time around.  They desire will not be a kingdom first.  Their desire is that above.  That their sins will be cleansed and their nature changed!

It is this desire which the LORD finds a beautiful thing.  The desire to change for the glory of and love for the Father.  It is this desire that separates the righteous from the wicked.  That blessed hope of His appearing means far more than mere eternity in the perfection of heaven.  His appearing means His presence.  But His appearing also means we never have to embarrass our Savior again.  His coming means that no matter what is expected of us, we will gladly please the One who died for us and gave His life that He might dwell with us in absolute perfection!  Glory be to Jesus!