A Place Of Quiet Rest

In our song book, Sacred Selections, song number 163 is called "Near To The
Heart Of God". This song, penned by C. B. McAfee, suggests not only the
quality of God's Love, but the need for those who come to God to change.
The first stanza says, "There is a place of quiet rest, near to the heart of
God, A place where sin cannot molest, near to the heart of God." How
true those words are!

When one becomes a Child of God, not only do they experience the love that
flows from God's heart, but also they experience a change in their own
hearts. We MUST change, if we are to approach God and serve in His presence.
Paul commended the Christians in Rome for obeying God and changing their
hearts: "But God be thanked, that ye were servants of sin, but ye have obeyed
from the heart that form of doctrine which was delivered you." (Romans 6:17)
On the day of Pentecost, it was the hearts of the hearers that was pricked by
the Gospel message (Acts 2:37).

When hearts are changed and conformed to the example of Jesus Christ, then
we do approach the throne of God. It is here that we have the peace and
rest that we so desperately need from this world. Again, the writer of
Hebrews tells us, "Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the
holiest by the blood of Jesus, by a new and living way, which he hath
consecrated for us, through the vail, that is to say, his flesh; And having a
high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full
assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and
our bodies washed with pure water." (Hebrews 10:19-22)

When one obeys the Gospel, they have the guarantee from God that they now are
able to stand in His presence and are cleansed of all sin. They have a new
relationship, and in a Spiritual sense, a new heart. Truly then, the peace
and quiet and rest we seek, is found in the heart of God.  [JW]