Tracks in the heart...

"Blessed are those whose strength is in you,

in whose hearts are the highways to Zion"

Psalm 84.5

I read this Psalm in my quiet time recently and was struck by the second part of this verse - Highways to Zion in the heart.

In its original context it describes someone who is longing to go to the Temple in Jerusalem with God's people to meet with him and stand worshipping in his presence. Wherever they were, whether out in the fields, stirring a pot, telling a story to their neice, cutting wood, there was a longing for when they would next go up to Jerusalem for the worship feast. If you met them, you would probably notice that they talked about it often and naturally - a bit like us talking about our next holiday. But even more than that, you would notice that there was a strength in them. Even when things were hard. That anticipation, that longing, was the Lord's strength in them pulling them forward, "Blessed are those whose strength is in you, in whose hearts are the highways to Zion"

Fast forward to us. We no longer look forward to visiting the Jerusalem located in the Middle East. Instead we have a greater Zion/Jerusalem. It is described in Revelation. It is a city of stunning beauty and glory, that will come from heaven to the new creation and we will one day dwell there. God will be with us and he will wipe every tear from our eyes. 

God has placed in the heart of every believer a route to that city. Our prayer is that he would transform that route from an unused country track into a 6 lane motorway; that the Lord would grow our longing for this heavenly hope. 

As that highway in our heart grows wider and bigger, we will grow in the Lord's strength - "For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all. So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal" 1 Cor 4.17-18. We will find the greatest strength of all. The strength that faces all that the world, the flesh and the Devil throws at us, but stays standing steadfast.

But does this mean that we will become, "so heavenly minded that we will be no earthly use"? Will we become departure lounge Christians? 

No, for two reasons. The first is in the psalm itself - look at the impact - they bring life on the journey, "As they go through the Valley of Baca they make it a place of springs." They don't bring Zion into the desert (a mistaken theology made by some today), but their focus on Zion brings life around them as they journey to it. People and places are refreshed around them as they bring news of Zion.

The second reason is that the Lord has given us a foretaste of Zion here on earth. A foretaste of the assembly of God's people, where the Lord's presence is tangible: "For where two or three gather in my name, there I am with them" Matthew 18.20. Why not try this week to start orientating your week as a build up to Sunday. Make next Sunday the focus of your Monday. And in doing so, those paths in our heart will get widened and metalled, as we start looking towards the true Zion.