Jeremiah 17:9-10 KJV
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
It is not uncommon to hear the words of verse 9 quoted. It is vitally important that the child of God comes to understand he cannot know or trust his own heart.
The heart will lead a married man to stray from his wife
The heart can lead a man to leave a good job and church for something far less beneficial to himself and his family
The heart can lead a man to sign a contract to buy a car or a boat or a number of other things that are wanton and wasteful
In a world where it is popular to advise people to follow their heart, God's Word says that the heart is deceitful, desperately wicked, and cannot be known.
But there is good news. God promises to search our heart and try our reins (that's an old English term for affections). God says He will search our heart and reins. He will find out what we want most and, balanced with the perfect will of God, He will give us a "way" that will accomplish God's will and will bring us great joy and affection.
Many years ago I met a missionary and his wife. Mrs. Konnerup gave the testimony of getting saved at a young age but resisting the surrender of her life to the Lord. She just knew that if she gave her life to God He would make her be a missionary to Africa. Finally, after years of resisting, she surrendered to the Lord. Lo and behold she married a man who was called of God to be a missionary in - you guessed it - Africa. By the time I heard her give her testimony she had spent the better part of her life on the field and her testimony was that when she surrendered her life to God He allowed her to be a missionary to Africa. God knew her heart and reins better than she did. What she was most afraid to do was what God knew she would most love to do.
I can never trust my heart and affections. They are too much influenced by the things of this world. But I can always trust the Lord to use my life in the way that will please Him most and that I will be blessed the most in.
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?
I the LORD search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.
It is not uncommon to hear the words of verse 9 quoted. It is vitally important that the child of God comes to understand he cannot know or trust his own heart.
The heart will lead a married man to stray from his wife
The heart can lead a man to leave a good job and church for something far less beneficial to himself and his family
The heart can lead a man to sign a contract to buy a car or a boat or a number of other things that are wanton and wasteful
In a world where it is popular to advise people to follow their heart, God's Word says that the heart is deceitful, desperately wicked, and cannot be known.
But there is good news. God promises to search our heart and try our reins (that's an old English term for affections). God says He will search our heart and reins. He will find out what we want most and, balanced with the perfect will of God, He will give us a "way" that will accomplish God's will and will bring us great joy and affection.
Many years ago I met a missionary and his wife. Mrs. Konnerup gave the testimony of getting saved at a young age but resisting the surrender of her life to the Lord. She just knew that if she gave her life to God He would make her be a missionary to Africa. Finally, after years of resisting, she surrendered to the Lord. Lo and behold she married a man who was called of God to be a missionary in - you guessed it - Africa. By the time I heard her give her testimony she had spent the better part of her life on the field and her testimony was that when she surrendered her life to God He allowed her to be a missionary to Africa. God knew her heart and reins better than she did. What she was most afraid to do was what God knew she would most love to do.
I can never trust my heart and affections. They are too much influenced by the things of this world. But I can always trust the Lord to use my life in the way that will please Him most and that I will be blessed the most in.
No comments:
Post a Comment