JEREMIAH 17:9 – The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?
THEME OF THE DAY: NEVER TRUST YOUR HEART. Have you ever received advice from someone when you are trying to figure out a decision to make in life that went something like this “Just trust your heart. Go with your ‘gut feeling’”? If so, not good; not good at all either to receive such advice or offer it. That advice is like those jewelry commercials. They paint a romantic picture of a ring, bracelet or some other piece of jewelry being given and the language is about the heart; warm feelings, a real ‘touchy feely’ scene that attempts to reel a person in. Nothing wrong with buying jewelry for loved ones, but what is being described is a good heart, a loving heart, a heart that can be trusted and that is a biblical contradiction. I don’t think we would be seeing this caption in the commercial – The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9).
The Bible is clear about trusting one’s heart or understanding – don’t do it. In fact, it is a command – Trust in the Lord with all your heart And do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge Him, And He will make your paths straight (Proverbs 3:5-6). Why such emphasis? Because trusting one’s own heart is to go down a path that never leads to good places. And the ease of doing so cannot be overstated. Here is an illustration. We have a strong desire to do something or go somewhere. It is a near constant on our hearts, but we claim to want God’s will first and foremost in our lives. So, we offer a brief prayer to the Lord about this issue. What really might be happening is the decision to act has already been made in our hearts. We just want the Lord’s blessing, not leading, upon something that we have already determined in our hearts. It puts our wills ahead of His. And the danger is we spiritualize a decision that we let our hearts make, even claiming “It is the will of the Lord.”
There is another reason not to trust our hearts. It is in today’s scripture. Our hearts are deceptive and quite ill. The fall in the Garden of Eden poisoned our hearts, not partially, but completely. And what comes out of such a heart? Nothing good. Jesus warns us of what flows from our hearts – “For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person” (Mark 7:21-23). Honestly, who would be foolish enough to trust such a heart? Sadly, we too often are such foolish people!
So, as we go through life, confronted with many decisions, let these words of Jesus help us never once to rely upon our own understanding. The heart is not a reliable guide, but praise the Lord, He has given us reliable guides – His Word, mature Christians who will give us counsel we may need to hear but not want to hear, and prayer – prayer that doesn’t ask for His blessing, prayer that seeks His will above ours.
PRAYER: “Father, may I never trust my heart in anything at any time.”
QUOTE: “Trusting one’s own heart is to go down a path that never leads to good places.”
Because of Him,
Pastor Jim