What do biscotti and power steering have in common?

Last week, we received a package. It was sent to us from Italy where one of my wife's friends recently moved. The box was filled with all kinds of treats and fun things to eat. It had some Italian chocolates, a tasty dessert spread made from hazelnuts, and a few other items that Andrea was asked to share with some of her co-workers. In addition to that, her friend gave us a bag of biscotti. If you aren't familiar with biscotti, it's a hard dessert bread that's meant to be dipped in coffee or tea.

As I looked at all these goodies, and noticed that Andrea was about to enjoy some of the biscotti, I decided to help myself to some as well. I picked up a piece to bite it when she yelled, "Wait! You'll hurt your teeth! It needs to be dipped in coffee first to make it softer." I'm aware of that, but I took her advice and dipped it in my drink which certainly made it softer and safer to chew.

With that in mind, let me ask a related question that probably doesn't seem connected, but I promise you it is.

Have you ever attempted to steer your car when it's off? What happens? When you try to steer it without the power turned on, you'll find yourself barely able to turn the wheel. But when the car is fired up, the wheel moves with ease.

Biscotti needs coffee to make it soft and chewable. A car needs power in order to steer properly. And if our hearts are missing something, we'll also be hard and unmovable. Our hearts need the presence of Christ, and I'm grateful to see in the opening verses of Proverbs 21 that the Lord can steer, turn, and soften even the hardest of hearts.

I. God can turn the hearts of kings

The king's heart is a stream of water in the hand of the Lord;
    he turns it wherever he will. (Proverbs 21:1)

Without a doubt, our lives are directly impacted by the decisions of those who serve in leadership. Even with all of its imperfections, I'm truly grateful to live in the country I live in. I consider it a blessing, but I have been alive long enough to know that my life and the lives of my family members will be impacted by those who occupy elected office.

But I also know something else, and I think this is the perfect time to express this fact. There is no earthly leader who is worthy of being the recipient of my greatest hopes. They all struggle. They all get some things right and some things wrong. And while I'm the type of citizen who votes in every election, I'm also the type of Christian who makes a point to remind himself that my greatest hope can only ever be in the benevolent and perfect leadership of Jesus Christ my Lord.

With that said, I still want to be a productive member of society who stays invested in the well-being of our nation. So what's one of the most productive things I can be doing regardless of who is president, governor, senator, or mayor? Scripture teaches that it will make a direct impact on our nation, our families, and our individual lives if we make a concerted effort to remember our leaders in prayer. We should pray for the leaders we like and pray for the leaders we dislike because God can give them wisdom and change their hearts.

"First of all, then, I urge that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and thanksgivings be made for all people, for kings and all who are in high positions, that we may lead a peaceful and quiet life, godly and dignified in every way." (1 Timothy 2:1-2)

I remember thinking about this concept quite regularly when I was in college. That was the first time I had the privilege to vote in a presidential election and I was quite excited about it. Unfortunately, the candidate I voted for didn't win and I wasn't feeling too good about it. Then, one Sunday in church, our pastor was preaching from Proverbs 21 and I was relieved to see what it stated. We're told in the first verse of that chapter that the Lord can turn the heart of a king in whichever direction He chooses. History is filled with examples of the Lord doing just that.

I don't know how you feel about who is in leadership at present on the state or national level, or how you feel about the people that are about to assume those offices, but the advice Scripture gives us is the same no matter who temporarily serves in those positions of leadership. Pray for them. Entrust them over to the Lord. Ask the Lord to direct the decisions they make, but trust Jesus to be the ultimate leader and Lord.

Our hearts and our nation will both be better off if we take this counsel that we're given in God's word.

II. God can see the hidden motives of our hearts

Every way of a man is right in his own eyes,
    but the Lord weighs the heart. (Proverbs 21:2)

Have you ever met someone and made an incorrect assumption about them? I think we've all done that more times than we can count. When we meet people, we tend to make judgments based on external factors. We assess each other based on what we see and what we hear because we can't see what's really going on inside.

Based on our ability to know what we're thinking and what our motives may be, we have the capacity to assess our own motives with more clarity. But how often do we do that? Are we actually honest with ourselves about what motivates our actions? Sometimes I wonder if we as people who are affected by the presence of sin actually have the capacity to do anything with truly pure motives.

The Lord knows our hearts. He knows that by nature, our hearts are desperately wicked. He also knows that through Him, we're given a new heart.

"And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26)

When we come to faith in Jesus Christ, we're given a new heart. Our old heart was self-focused, selfish, and bent on destruction. Our new heart is sensitive to the Lord's leading and focused on giving Him glory. The Lord sees beyond the way we present ourselves to one another, and He looks deep into our hearts to see what's really going on. Is His Spirit present, or are we still consumed with the cravings of our old nature?

III. God knows if our hearts are motivated to obey Him

To do righteousness and justice
    is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice. (Proverbs 21:3)

The other evening, I was having a conversation with my daughter Hannah. We were looking at a picture from thirty years ago when I was a teenager working at a summer camp. I made the comment to her that that was the summer I learned what it meant to love the Lord enough to actually obey Him. That was the turning point of my entire life.

Many people are under the false impression that they can just perform some act of sacrifice or service to curry God's favor and make up for a life of ignoring His voice, but Jesus already made the only sacrifice that was acceptable to the Father. When we convince ourselves that we can make some kind of sacrifice to the Lord to make up for a lifetime of ignoring Him, all we're doing is proving that two things are true; 1. We have bad theology, and 2. We're trying to be our own savior instead of trusting the Savior who gave Himself as a sacrifice for us.

Are you familiar with a singer named Keith Green? Keith passed away in a plane crash in 1982 at the age of 28. But prior to his death, he was one of the best known Christian musicians of the day. He wrote some very popular songs at the time and sold somewhere around one million copies of his albums.

His songs are what I like to call "lovingly confrontational." Let me give you a good example of that by quoting a few lines from his song, "To Obey is Better than Sacrifice."

To obey is better than sacrifice
I don't need your money
I want your life
And I hear you say that I'm coming back soon
But you act like I'll never return

Well you speak of grace and my love so sweet
How you thrive on milk, but reject My meat
And I can't help weeping of how it will be
If you keep on ignoring My words
Well you pray to prosper and succeed
But your flesh is something I just can't feed

To obey is better than sacrifice
I want more than Sunday and Wednesday nights
Cause if you can't come to Me every day
Then don't bother coming at all

To obey is better than sacrifice
I want hearts of fire
Not your prayers of ice
And I'm coming quickly
To give back to you
According to what you have done

-Keith Green, “To Obey is Better than Sacrifice”

Some people got annoyed with Keith Green's direct approach, but wasn't he saying the same exact thing Solomon said in Proverbs 21:3? God knows if our hearts are motivated to obey Him. "To do righteousness and justice is more acceptable to the Lord than sacrifice." (Prov. 21:3)

IV. God wants us to have a heart for the person in need

Whoever closes his ear to the cry of the poor
    will himself call out and not be answered. (Proverbs 21:13)

One last thing about our hearts that I want to point out from this proverb is found in Proverbs 21:13. We're shown in this passage that the Lord wants us to listen to the cry of the poor. If we expect Him to listen our our pleas for mercy and help, we can't be ignorant to the pleas of those asking for that same kind of help, especially when it's in our power to offer it.

This is something the Lord has been speaking to me about lately. It's something that I'm starting to care about more than I used to. I don't know why it took as long as it did to grab my attention. It may be because I was still focused on my own struggles, but that's no excuse.

About a year ago, I was in a grocery store. I was only buying a couple things, so I didn't even grab a cart. When I walked up to the register, the woman in line ahead of me had a very full cart and was in the process of checking out. Only one register was open, so I waited.

When the cashier finished scanning her items, he told her the total was going to be about $115.00. She scanned her card to pay, and commented that she thought she had enough on it to cover the bill, but I guess she didn't because her card was declined multiple times. Embarrassed, she asked the cashier what she should do, and if she should put the items back on the shelf and he said, "I'll put them back." Then she walked out of the store embarrassed. It was an awkward thing to witness.

After I paid for my items, I walked outside and a flood of conviction came over me. I don't know why I didn't think of it when I was in the store, but as I was walking to my car I thought to myself, "I should have paid for her grocieries!" I felt sad that I didn't think to offer that in the moment, so I purposed in my heart that if that happened again, I would respond quicker.

Fast forward a year later and a woman I didn't know directly asked me for help with some food, and I thought of that moment, so I asked her, "What do you like to eat?" Then my wife and I bought it for her. I hope that will be my pattern going forward.

When Jesus came for us, He didn't come for people who were already spiritually well-off. We were spiritually bankrupt. We were spiritual debtors, and He paid the debt of our sin with the shedding of His blood. When we receive that needed gift by faith, our formerly hardened heart is turned and we're granted a rich inheritance in His kingdom. For His glory, He invites us to bless our neighbors in the same way He's graciously chosen to bless us.

I don't know where your heart is right now, but the Lord does. Let me encourage you to give your heart and your life over to Him. He's the only one who truly knows what to do with it.

© John Stange, 2021