How to Check Your Heart

Wentzville | Matt Hess
July 26, 2026

Jonah 2:8-10

8 “Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love. 9 But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay. Salvation belongs to the Lord!” 10 And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” Jonah 2:8-10

“Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Proverbs 4:23 

1. Is Your Heart DISTRACTED? 

“Those who pay regard to vain idols forsake their hope of steadfast love.” Jonah 2:8 
 
“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you… covetousness, which is idolatry.” Colossians 3:5 
 
“For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Matthew 6:21 

2. Is Your Heart DEVOTED? 

“But I with the voice of thanksgiving will sacrifice to you; what I have vowed I will pay.” Jonah 2:9a 
 
“Present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship.” Romans 12:1 
 
“To obey is better than sacrifice, and to listen than the fat of rams.” 1 Samuel 15:22 
 
“For by grace you have been saved through faith… For we are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works.” Ephesians 2:8-10 

3. Is Your Heart DELIVERED? 

“Salvation belongs to the Lord!” “And the Lord spoke to the fish, and it vomited Jonah out upon the dry land.” Jonah 2:9b-10 
 
“Salvation belongs to the Lord; your blessing be on your people!” Psalm 3:8 
 
“But God, being rich in mercy… made us alive together with Christ.” Ephesians 2:4-5 

“He saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy.” Titus 3:5 

“For just as Jonah was three days and three nights in the belly of the great fish, so will the Son of Man be three days and three nights in the heart of the earth.” Matthew 12:40