Heart = Mind?

How is it possible? The heart means the mind too? To me, separating the emotions of the heart and the knowledge of the mind makes sense. They're two different things, right? Not according to Lois Tverberg in Listening to the Language of the Bible. In Hebrew it means the same thing.

Okay, so, in some ways I can see it. I mean after all when the heart is happy our thoughts follow the same pathway. When our minds are not heavily burdened with stress and the troubles of life we can laugh easier, and have a lighter feeling in our walk. When we force our minds to focus on something lighthearted or even make ourselves smile there is a change in our emotional baseline.

Lois explained that physical things are often used to explain abstract things. So the word "heart", something all mankind understood, becomes the image not just for the emotions of the heart but also for the mind and thoughts. And to help all of us non-Hebrews, when the scriptures were written in Greek, the writers included the word "mind" to help us understand what Jesus meant. (Matthew 22)

Lois pointed out we focus far more on our worship time and prayer time than our Bible study time. But in biblical days, the actual studying of the scriptures was the greatest form of worship. Acts 17 and 1 Timothy 4 talk about people pouring over the scriptures daily. And of course there were the pharisees.

But some of those leaders in the temple listened to Jesus. So I have to believe, they weren't just trying to be know-it-all's, walking encyclopedias so to speak. These people were worshiping God in the most complete way they knew. . .spending time to focus their thoughts and the fullness of their knowledge on God Most High.

Now that's something I did not know.