THE HUMAN HEART

Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NLT)

“The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”

       The Prophet Jeremiah was called by God to urge His people to turn from their sinful ways and come back to Him.  In the Old Testament, the heart⁽¹⁾ is a lot more than simply where our emotions reside.  It also represents the foundation of our character, which includes our mind and our will.  Man’s life is filled with daily choices that need to be made.  We can choose to continue in sin as the Jewish people had done at this time in history or we can choose to serve God. We will not stop sinning until we realize the importance of who God is to us and also what Christ did for us. 

       The human heart will naturally gravitate toward sinful behavior. The heart of man has been so inclined since birth. It’s the depraved nature of the human heart that requires renewal.  God searches the deepest recesses of our hearts and knows not only what we do, but also why we do it.  Nothing is hidden from God.  There will come a day when all will be rewarded exactly as they deserve based on their words and deeds.  Their intentions will have played out in their lives and there will be nowhere to hide and no way to conceal the full intent of what they had said or done.  We as Christians must take our relationship with our Creator seriously, determining to live according to His will and not our own. 

       Let me clarify something, we are not to obey God’s standards to get a reward.  We are to obey God’s will for us because that is what we are called and expected to do.  Christ didn’t voluntarily allow His own blood to be shed for no good reason.  The reason was to buy us back from the sinful existence we had been mired in. One drop of His precious blood cleansed us of all our sins.  Was this so we could go forward from forgiveness living as we choose?  I dare say ‘no’.  We have been called to be Christ’s representatives on this earth.  This can only be accomplished if we sell out to God each day. Until next time, walk with the King and be a blessing!

Resources: 

The Reformation Study Bible; published and distributed by Ligonier Ministries; general editor, RC Sproul.

The Life Application Study Bible; published by Tyndale House.

⁽¹⁾ Proverbs 4:23 New Living Translation (NLT) “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”