new year, new affections.

I’m excited about the opportunity that I have this month to write for our local paper. Each month, pastors in the area are able to take turns writing and January was my turn. I’ve never done this before, but alas it was fun. Here was last week’s article:

It’s here. It always comes whether we want it to or not. And many of us respond differently to the reality of a new year.  Some of us come to the realization that we are aging—and aging fast! Others decide that it is time to use up that gym membership we pay for but never use; and still others anxiously wait to see what might be around the corner hoping and praying for a different job, life, situation and circumstance.

But isn’t it interesting how we look at our various situations and hope for change when the reality is that change first needs to start in the heart? What if a doctor diagnosed you with cancer and instead of addressing the root cause, told you to just go home and take some Tylenol? Let me explain.

Proverbs 4:23 (ESV) reads, “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Often in the Old Testament the “heart” refers to the center of one’s being—the center of the soul and personhood. It’s what makes you, you. Without that spark, that animated soul, your body would simply be inanimate flesh. So the heart is absolutely vital and central.

Jesus said in Mark 7:21-23 (ESV), “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” When we look at the world around us, oftentimes we deem the wrongs of society as being transcendent (“out there”) rather than being the direct result of a wicked heart. Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV) reads, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”

The reality is, our hearts are filthy. The deepest parts of our souls are polluted because naturally, we want what we want and tend to not care about “those people.” And you’re guilty. So am I. We are all guilty. Year after year, we are guilty of mocking God, and belittling his name. We exchange the glory of God (Romans 1:23) and rob him of what he deserves. And the result is always sin, destruction, and ultimately death.

But the gospel of Jesus speaks to your circumstances: your financial burdens, marital stress, job loss and anxiety. It speaks to the depths of your soul and provides nourishment for it. Our circumstances aren’t the only problem: our hearts are. And the gospel reaches down, destroys our sin and saves us.

What you need this year is new affections.

Jonathan Edwards wrote in Religious Affections (1746), “For although to true religion there must indeed be something else besides affection, yet true religion consists so much in the affections that there can be no true religion without them.”

The heart of the issue (pun intended) is that our hearts are filthy, yet Jesus cleans them. Our minds are polluted but Jesus changes them. Our affections are slanted towards things that are not God but Jesus realigns them. This year, treasure God above all things; have affections for our great Savior.