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The Heart


The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; Who can understand it?                                                                                                 (Jeremiah 17:9 NASB)
The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?                                                                             (Jeremiah 17:9NIV)                    

      This is the verse I was looking for when I found the passage in Isaiah I shared yesterday. It comes to mind when I hear people talking about their hearts. They believe in their hearts...feel in their hearts... and therefore it must be true, or at least far superior to whatever might be found in their heads. They exalt the heart, and exult in the heart. The feelings of romance and feelings of love - mere sentimentality - are all that are necessary to make something good, no matter how twisted and vile it might be. "But I love him/her" does not justify doing something that is wrong. Neither does "my heart was in the right place." I'm not suggesting that the mind is as pure as the heart is perverse. They are both flawed and broken.
       In a video series I watched last fall (PovertyCure), a priest spoke of the earthquake in Haiti, and his immediate heart-ache to send them aid. He said that he had to stop himself and consider what they actually needed instead of simply reacting  because his initial response would not have met their real needs. The same video series showed how well-meaning people responding from the heart  harm the economies of the areas they send aid. They make things worse in their generosity of heart.
      The best guide for our actions and beliefs is the Word of God, which does not change the way our hearts and minds do. It does not lead us astray as sentiment does.

      

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On The Calendar    Palm Sunday and Vernal Equinox

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