By this he meaneth that his heart, which is the seat of the All-Merciful and the throne wherein abideth the splendor of His revelation, is forgetful of its Creator, hath strayed from His path, hath shut out itself from His glory, and is stained with the defilement of earthly desires….
How often hath the human heart, which is the recipient of the light of God and the seat of the revelation of the All-Merciful, erred from Him Who is the Source of that light and the Wellspring of that revelation.
~ Bahá’u’lláh, Gleanings XCIII
It wasn’t until last night when I was reading the 93rd Gleanings that it dawned on me that even though the heart is the throne of God, God did not make it naturally accept Him. We have to work on it, “polish it” as ‘Abdu’l-Bahá says.
The most important thing is to polish the mirrors of hearts in order that they may become illumined and receptive of the divine light…. Therefore, our duty lies in seeking to polish the mirrors of our hearts in order that we shall become reflectors of that light and recipients of the divine bounties which may be fully revealed through them.
~ ‘Abdu’l-Bahá, The Promulgation of Universal Peace, #6, 14 April 1912
And another thought, God has given us free will. He wants us to invite Him into our hearts. He could just hang out there and limit our choices, but He wants us to choose Him, to follow His laws for love of Him.
The heart is forgetful so that we have to continually invite Him in, continually renew our relationship with Him.