If ye abide in me, and my words abide in you ...
John 15:7
The word ‘abide’ means to ‘be at home in’. The Psalmist didn’t say ‘Thy Word have I hid in my mind’ or even ‘in my memory’. He said, ’Thy Word have I hid in my heart,’ (Psalm 119:11).
Paul echoed him when he prayed in Ephesians 3 ‘that Christ may dwell in your hearts.’
Why does the Lord want Himself and His Word to abide in our hearts and not just in our heads? Because, affected by data, discussions, and information, the mind is incredibly fickle. I can change my mind 100 times in a single day concerning a single issue. So can you. But not so the heart.
Think back to your dating days and you know how this works. If someone dumped you, even though you knew in your head you were glad to be free of him or her you would still find yourself feeling for him or caring about her. Why? Because the heart holds on. That’s why the Lord wants His Word to dwell there.
How does this happen?
For me the most practical way knowledge moves from the head to the heart is through meditation and contemplation. Spending time in the Word — in morning and evening devotions, in corporate study, in times when I’m waiting in line or waiting at a stoplight allows it to sink in and permeate my inner man, to be at home in my life, to abide in my heart.
