Establish Your Hearts

“Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand” (James 5:8).

When something is established, it has a definite beginning.  Establishment of a business, or a marriage, for instance, sets up a new arrangement, a new way of thinking and being that creates something that was not there before.

It implies a stake in the ground, a marker that says, “From this moment forward, things are different.” 

Work must take place when something is established.  The work requires steadfastness, faithfulness, in order for the establishment to succeed.

James reminds us of the prophets who remained steadfast in suffering, and even of the steadfastness of Job, who remained faithful despite unfathomable loss. 

How then should we establish our hearts?  The Apostle Paul prays that the Lord would “…make you increase in love for one another and for all as we do for you so that he may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of the Lord Jesus with all his saints” (1 Thess. 3:12-13).

It’s in loving one another that our hearts are established in Him, in a new way of thinking, of being.  It’s “putting off the old self…being renewed in the spirit of your mind…and putting on the new self, created after the likeness of God” (Ephesians 4:22-24). 

When we serve one another in love (Gal 5:13), we establish our hearts in this way.

When we bear one another’s burdens (Gal 6:2), we fulfill the law of Christ, which is love.

God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit (Romans 5:5), and that love should flow from us to others.

Put a stake in the ground.

Establish your hearts.