“One who heard us was a woman named Lydia, from the city of Thyatira, a seller of purple goods, who was a worshiper of God. The Lord opened her heart to pay attention to what was said by Paul.” – Act 16:14 

Why do we often hear it said in personal testimonies “I gave my heart to Jesus. . .” or “I asked Jesus into my heart. . .” ? That’s a rather rhetorical question. Probably because invitations to the Cross of Calvary are phrased the same way, asking those who might be seeking God to ‘do’ one or the other, rather than more biblical approaches that would invite them to simply repent of their sin and believe in the Son, who died in their place and rose again, that they might also be raised from the dead and live.

A few short comments about today’s popular invitations to ask Jesus into one’s heart, or give one’s heart to Jesus:

• Neither one is to be directly found, or implied in all of New Testament evangelism.
• On their own, they can dangerously imply that the individual ‘contributes’ to his/her own salvation, impugning the sovereignty of God in salvation.
• They both give rise to the ‘boasting’ prohibited by Eph 2:8-9:

” For by grace you have been saved through faith. And this is not your own doing; it is the gift of God,  not a result of works, so that no one may boast.”

And by the way, another question:

If God opens hearts to pay attention to and trust the Gospel message, wouldn’t it mean that ‘giving one’s heart to Jesus’ or ‘asking Jesus in’ are, on some level, redundant acts?

Food for thought. . .