The
prophet Jeremiah was a preacher of the heart, wearing his heart on his sleeve
as he ministered among hardhearted people.
He knew the terrain of the heart as well as anyone which makes his
observations about the conditions of the heart all the more significant. The
heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick – who can
understand it? I, the LORD… test the heart to give to each according to
his way, according to what his actions deserve (Jer.17: 9 – 10).
The
heart is deceived or “crooked.” The heart is hopelessly bent out of shape.
Though Jeremiah seems very much in touch with his heart he informs us that no one
can genuinely understand his or her heart.
The heart is the ultimate con man. John warned us that our heart could
rise up and condemn us even when God did not:
if our hearts condemn us, God is
greater than our hearts (1 Jhn. 3: 20).
The essence of deception is to believe what another says rather than
what God says. The heart is a notorious
liar deceiving us 24/7.
The
heart is diseased. The phrase desperately sick could be translated
“beyond cure.” Everyone suffers from
spiritual coronary disease; a condition which is always fatal. One statistic which should never be
overlooked is that for every one birth there is one death.
The
heart is diagnosed by Dr. God. Only He can diagnose our heart’s true condition;
charting the manifestations as well as the motivations of the heart. The best
physicians are partial in their diagnosis but not God. Every sin hidden from the view of others is
known to God. Every thought embarrassing
to us is noted on God’s clinical records.
God knows the pathology of sin in each of our lives and holds us
accountable. Some illnesses may be
unrelated to any choices we have made and consequently we are spared any blame
for our sickness but sin in the heart is different; it must be accounted for.
Account
for our sin we must, but we can never atone for it. We cannot atone for a
single sin on our best day at our finest hour.
For this is what the LORD says:
Your injury is incurable; your wound most severe. No one takes up the case for your sores. You have nothing that can heal you (Jer. 30:
12 – 13). We need a heart transplant from Dr. God Who offers to plant a new
heart in us. I will give you a new heart … I will remove your heart of stone and
give you a heart of flesh (Ezek. 36: 26).
A
new heart is just a prayer away.
This post originally appeared as a column in the Daily Press.
