11 Feb Watch The Throne

There’s this thing I do. From time to time, I notice myself drifting towards things that are the opposite of what I value. I get distracted. 

There are a number of factors that cause this. First, humanity is dynamic. I drift because I am constantly changing and evolving as a being. I’ve noticed that when I am intentional about directing this drift, productive things tend to happen. However, when I allow natural forces to direct this drift, I end up in places that I would never prefer to be in. So this factor is sort of a matter of discipline.

I noticed another major factor though. This one has to do with something deeper. This is something at the heart level.

The way I imagined this factor reminded me of the legendary Jay-Z and Kanye West album entitled “Watch The Throne”.

(All my rap music fans know how killing this album is!) 

In my heart, that core place in my soul, I envision a throne. That throne can be occupied by a number of things. When the right things are on that throne, I notice positive things in my life and conduct. When the wrong things occupy the throne, I get results that I don’t like.

The specific things I observe trying to claim that internal throne are… 

Pride: when my desire for my own glory and recognition get out of hand. 

Greed: the force that inhibits my generosity. 

Anger: for me, tends to come out passive aggressively or gets redirected inward. 

Envy: the force that influences me to act in a manner disloyal to my values in order to get what someone else has. 

Lust: that burning desire for what I don’t have. 

Gluttony: my inability to realize when enough is enough. 

Sloth: my tendency to disengage with life. (This is a big one for Enneagram Nines like myself.)

In the gospel of Matthew, Jesus talks about the fact that we can learn about the substance of a person by the fruit of their lives. I can tell which of these root heart issues may be getting the better of me by examining the fruit I mentioned above.

While we must look at fruit in order to determine the state of our hearts, God examines our hearts directly (1 Samuel 16:8). The best thing I have found for my heart is to bring it to God.  I find myself practicing unfiltered honesty in conversation with God about the fruit I am noticing. Then, I do my best to surrender those specific things to God.

For example, maybe I find myself being extra tempted by the thought of engaging with pornography. At the bottom of this, I find that lust is jockeying to rule my heart. I can choose to give into this temptation. I can also decide to be honest about what I feel, admitting to God and trusted people that I have a strong desire for a type of intimacy I don’t have. Then I have to make a choice to surrender to God’s way of dealing with this issue. 

Oftentimes this surrendering comes with the need to endure intense emotions or difficult urges. However, I’ve found that when I surrender and keep my eyes open, I notice that God brings good things to account for our actual needs in ways that aren’t destructive to us. 

I can’t tell you the number of times that I’ve struggled like this, surrendered the decision to God, and saw God’s goodness and ability to take care of me on display. God’s provision for my actual needs rarely looks the way that I would imagine but it is always thorough and appropriate.

What happens when we get all of this right? What results can we expect from guarding our heart’s throne from the wrong things? 

First, we can expect the quality of all of our relationships to improve by leaps and bounds. Heart issues are the things that most stifle relational freedom. When we battle the forces that seek to bring our hearts and actions away from what we value, we create the needed space for our relationships to flourish.

Secondly, we will experience more freedom in our lives. Each of the warring forces that I mentioned above, when allowed to rule our hearts, bring with them some level of bondage and baggage. When we vacate these influences from our heart, we are left with the liberty to have and enjoy our lives to the fullest (John 8:34-36, John 10:10)

Thirdly, the freedom that we experience when we get good at ridding ourselves of these negative energies enables us to be helpful to others. When we aren’t so good at it, the struggle to defeat these foes takes up so much energy that it can make us self-absorbed. We are consumed with trying to survive for ourselves. As of late I’m inspired to allow God to defeat these heart enemies so that I can be available to help other people in their battles.

Here are a few questions to consider as you approach managing your own heart’s throne:

1.) What type of fruit do you see in your life? What inferences can you make about the things that rule your heart based on the fruit that you see?

2.) What type of fruit do you think others notice in your life? (Bonus: Ask someone close to you to give you their perspective on the fruit that they observe in your life.)

3.) What type of fruit do you see in the lives of the people closest to you? What type of influence do you believe this fruit has on you?

Lastly, I have a question for you. What helps you to keep the right things on the throne of your heart? 

I’d love to discuss this topic with my family and friends out there who were gracious enough with their time to read this. Please feel free to reach out with any thoughts you have on this content… and don’t forget to Watch The Throne.