“Tear your hearts, not just your clothes, and return to the Lord your God. For he is gracious and compassionate, slow to anger, rich in faithful love and He relents form sending disaster.” Joel 2:13.
The Jewish tradition of tearing one’s clothes is a sign of mourning. It is symbolic of how they feel and what is taking place at that moment in their life. They literally ripped their clothes to make a visual expression of repentance, sorrow, or remorse. This visual statement is not a permanent state. This is a temporary act that only lasts until they get up and get dressed.
In the Old Testament we see men like King David, Job, Jacob, Jephthah and more performing this act. It is usually an instantaneous act reflective of their emotional state at the time. Something is said, done, or experienced that evokes this response.
God is saying in the book of Joel, I don’t want a temporary act that fits for the moment. An emotional response that changes with the passage of time. I don’t want you to get up, get dressed, and forget what brought you to this place.
God doesn’t say don’t tear your clothes. I believe this is important. God created us with our emotions and we need to listen to them, feel them and then work through them. Not just express them! That’s where the tearing of the heart comes in.
Our heart is the reflection of who we are (Matthew 12:34). It’s what we think (Proverb 23:7), believe (Romans 10:9), desire (Romans 2:24), and the place from where we speak (Psalm 84:2, Psalm 119:145).
It’s God’s desire to see you tear away the places of your heart that are not in line with His truth. To rip apart your beliefs, desires, and behaviors in sorrow, sadness, and remorse when they are in conflict with His word. The Lord wants you to make permanent changes in the heart that lead you to permanent changes in your life. When you rip apart the heart by recognizing the truth of who you are and what you need to change, it gives God access to come and give you a new heart in the same way you would put on new clothes.
In the Bible the Holy of Holies was a place in the temple where the Spirit of God dwelt. When Jesus died on the cross, the veil was torn in two. The ripping of the veil gave us access to the heart of God. Now we are able to enter in and know God personally for ourselves. God’s heart was ripped open and exposed so that we may know the true God intimately. This is what God wants from you. He wants the veil that covers your heart to be torn so that He may enter in and know you intimately. He wants access and the freedom to transform your heart to reflect Him. But you have to do it. You need to rip it in mourning. God wants a heart of repentance, sorrow, and remorse.
I want to encourage you today. God is a gracious God. He is patient, kind, and compassionate. He loves you and is longing for you to approach Him in prayer. When you approach God with humility He is a safe person to come to. The Bible says He give grace to the humble. Let today be the day that you tear open your heart. Take action now and expose yourself to the Father. Ask Him to transform you and share a life of intimacy. Engage with God and let the prayer of David be the cry of your heart.
“Create in me a clean heart O God; and renew a right spirit within.” Psalm 51:10. “Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.” Psalm 23-24.
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