Skip to main content

The Heart Of The Matter


The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.” (Jeremiah 17:9-10)

          I did not choose this morning’s topic, but it’s one near and dear to mine. First, let’s review what Jeremiah will have meant by heart because that’s the first level of deception we face today. According to Professor of Literature C. S. Lewis, the ancients associated the heart with the will. I’m inclined to agree because cœur is French for heart and it is the base from which we get the word courage. Courage is doing something in spite of the feeling of fear, which means it involves the will, not feelings. 
         When we are commanded to love the Lord our God with all our hearts, souls, minds, and strengths, God isn’t talking about our feelings at all. He’s talking about with every ounce of intention and will, with every fiber of our being, with every thought, and with all we’ve got.  
          Some may think that leaving the emotions out of the equation destroys love, but the reality is that emotions are good followers, but bad leaders. If we love with all those other things, we’ll love with our emotions, too. If we love with our emotions, we’re sailing into dangerous waters. 
          But, today’s scripture says that the heart is deceitful. Doesn’t that mean that the emotions are a better guide? Not according to the greatest commandment. It leaves emotions out of the list. The fact is that the heart, the mind, the soul, and the emotions are fallen. Some folks like to claim that we have a “spark of divinity,” something in us that is not corrupted by the fall or our individual sins. Such is not the case. Every part of us is tainted. We are the “Promised Land” that must be conquered, and like Joshua, we need to destroy utterly those who live in the land because if we do not, they will destroy us. There are lots of villages who worship the will, and towns that worship the emotions, and cities that worship thought. They must be put to the torch. No hostages. 
         It’s easy to do something that doesn’t turn out the way we wanted and say, “Oh, I meant well.” Or “My heart was in the right place.” What Daniel Webster said comes to mind: 
          Good intentions will always be pleaded for any assumption of power. The  
     Constitution was made to guard the people against the dangers of good  
     intentions. There are men in all ages who mean to govern well, but they mean to
     govern. They promise to be good master,[sic] but they mean to be master[sic].
This is why we must not trust our hearts.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Saved?

  I give them eternal life, and they shall never perish; no one will snatch them out of my hand. My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all; no one can snatch them out of my Father’s hand. I and the Father are one.” (John 10:28-30) “Not everyone who says to me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, ‘Lord, Lord, did we not prophesy in your name and in your name drive out demons and in your name perform many miracles?’ Then I will tell them plainly, “I never knew you. Away from me, you evildoers!’ ” (Matthew 7:21-23) Not at all! Let God be true, and every human being a liar. As it is written: “So that you may be proved right when you speak and prevail when you judge.” (Romans 3:4)   What conclusion do you draw when someone who was raised in a Christian family and church, perhaps even playing a significant role in a chur...
Post a Comment
Read more

The Shepherd!

                 “I am the good shepherd; I know my sheep and my sheep know me— just as the Father knows me and I know the Father—and I lay down my life for the sheep . (John 10:14) God said to Moses, “I am who I am. This is what you are to say to the Israelites: ‘I am has sent me to you.’” (Genesis 3:14) The Lord is my shepherd, I lack nothing. He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths     for his name’s sake. Even though I walk     through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil,     for you are with me; your rod and your staff,     they comfort me. (Psalm 23:1-4) For the Jews, it was politically incorrect to make claims about yourself as a teacher (or possibly as anything else.) Teachers were expected to take pride in the...
Post a Comment
Read more

Meditations of the Heart

  May these words of my mouth and this meditation of my heart be pleasing in your sight, Lord, my Rock and my Redeemer. (Psalm19:14)           As I started writing this post, I noted that the meditations of my heart are all over the mental landscape, from a hub where eight superhighways come together to a lunar or nuclear landscape. Do you see my error? The moment I read the word meditation , I think about thoughts. But what’s described here is the meditations of our hearts ; our wills.           While the meditations of our minds may be all over the place, the meditations of our wills tend to be a little more stable by the time we are adults. We no longer tend to want to pursue the ten separate careers we did in any given day as children. Part of this is humble acceptance of reality. We come to understand that we can’t do it all. I think another part of it is disappointmen...
Post a Comment
Read more