221. Christ Dwells in Hearts
Ephesians 3:17 That Christ may dwell in your hearts by faith; that ye, being rooted and grounded in love.
The promise that Christ is dwelling in our hearts is a common and precious one. It is a great blessing to know that by faith Jesus Christ is always with us, in us, and He is working through us. Wherever we go and whatever we do Jesus is there. We cannot escape His Presence, and we don’t want to. Even when we sinning He is still there, dwelling in the heart, although He is tenderly reproving our activity. Thankfully, He leads us to instant repentance and instant forgiveness.
Although God is present everywhere, Christ is particularly present in the heart in a special and personal way: He is present to bless. He is dwelling with us as a kind of watchdog using our own conscience to convict of sin in order to lead us to repentance and renewed faith. But He is also dwelling in the heart to bless us and do good things for us. He hears our prayers and meets our needs. He secures our hope for the future and solidifies our joy for the present.
We may drift away from the awareness of His indwelling quite often while we are drawn away by the cares of the world and the demands of daily life; but He does not leave us, even if He is grieved. The awareness of Christ’s indwelling is maintained and brought to mind when we repent and believe the Gospel again and again. We need reminders of the Gospel at least daily through keeping in the Word, listening and talking to Christ. We may be dumb like sheep, but Christians have an articulate intelligence that communicates love for each other. Since Christ dwells in our hearts by faith this personal relationship is not hard to develop. We may ignore the presence of Christ, but we may still come back and talk to Him any time.
But Christ does only dwell, reside, live, and abide in the heart, He also rules, guides, governs, and directs the heart. Jesus Christ is Lord!He is the King of the Kingdom. We may resist His Lordship and rebel, but He still rules, not by force but by love. We respond by faith, yielding to His wise leadership. It is all rooted and grounded in love.