PODCAST
State of the Heart
October 9th, 2019
Acts 8:18-25
For Jesus, the transformation of the heart is always the goal. This is because He understood that everything else in our lives flows from the heart (see Matthew 12:34 and Proverbs 4:23).
This is the reason why it’s so troubling for Peter when he meets Simon for the first time. Peter and John had been praying for folks, and they were receiving the Holy Spirit. You can imagine that Simon was impressed with this, and wanted to be able to add this to the list of things he could do to impress people.
Peter sees right through Simon and calls him out with the words from our verse today. It’s critically important that our hearts are right before God. Everything flows out of the state of our hearts before God.
So, what do we do if we find that our hearts aren’t right? Peter gives the remedy as well, “Repent . . . and pray to the Lord in the hope that he may forgive you . . . ” (v. 22). Thankfully, we know that if we confess our sins, “he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Author: Erik Gernand
