Jeremiah 17:9-10 (NIV)
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.”
Our Verse of the Day makes a powerful statement about the human heart … the inner being of each person. I believe we all need to take some time to reflect on it. Yes, everyone, and especially believers in Christ, need to self-examine each day … do a heart check with God before we begin our day because of this very issue: our hearts are deceitful above all things. This is not a personal indictment, opinion, or commentary; rather, “This is what the Lord says.” Let us begin with a look at the verse in the surrounding context?
Jeremiah 17:1-10 (NIV)
1 “Judah’s sin is engraved with an iron tool, inscribed with a flint point, on the tablets of their hearts and on the horns of their altars. 2 Even their children remember their altars and Asherah poles beside the spreading trees and on the high hills. 3 My mountain in the land and your wealth and all your treasures I will give away as plunder, together with your high places, because of sin throughout your country. 4 Through your own fault you will lose the inheritance I gave you. I will enslave you to your enemies in a land you do not know, for you have kindled my anger, and it will burn forever.” 5 This is what the Lord says: “Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who draws strength from mere flesh and whose heart turns away from the Lord. 6 That person will be like a bush in the wastelands; they will not see prosperity when it comes. They will dwell in the parched places of the desert, in a salt land where no one lives. 7 “But blessed is the onewho trusts in the Lord, whose confidence is in Him. 8 They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit.” 9 The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? 10 “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”
Do any of us really think that we can hide anything from our Creator? No, the truth cannot be hidden – even within the unseen depths of our hearts. A person might externally deceive others … but no one can deceive God. God says, “I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind.” And He will reward each of us according to our conduct … because our conduct (even unseen conduct) is the manifestation of the thoughts in our hearts. And so, God has spoken to us through the Prophet Jeremiah to understand this very real concern: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.” To be deceitful is to be “filled with deceit”; to conceal or misrepresent truth; to lie or mislead with the intent to do so. Since we cannot understand this phenomenon within us, there is no self-help … self-therapy … self-will that can change the human heart … the human soul. It is beyond our own ability to cure. The heart can only be cleansed and healed by God … the One who created us! This is why a person must first come to repentance … why a person must recognize their helpless state of deception and depravity … and then surrender to the only One who can change their heart. Only in Jesus will our heart condition be healed. Only in Him will we receive forgiveness, healing, restoration, and ultimate salvation.
Consider what Jesus declared in this regard when a certain ruler asked Him: “Good Teacher, what must I do to inherit eternal life?” Then Jesus answered him, “Why do you call me good? No one is good—except God alone.” (Cf. Luke 18:18-19) Yes, prophets and apostles alike have concluded: “The Lord looks down from heaven on all mankind to see if there are any who understand, any who seek God. All have turned away, all have become corrupt; there is no one who does good, not even one.” (Cf. Psalm 14:2-3; Psalm 53:2-3; Ecclesiastes 7:20; Romans 3:10-12) The point is that no one is good, not even one. And that indictment should convince us, if we are honest with ourselves, that the truth about our inner sinful nature needs our personal attention. Personal introspection and reflection should cause us to see our deepest need for the transformation available through grace. And this overwhelming need should not discourage us from seeking God; rather, it should draw us to the foot of the cross of Christ Jesus where He shed His blood for us … where atonement and reconciliation with God was accomplished for us! Indeed, it is because of the human heart that God in His compassion and mercy sent His Son to rescue us! (See Romans 5:8)
The Apostle Paul made some keen observations about the human heart and our desperate need for salvation; and he set forth a theological foundation to establish why none of us is in a position to judge others – because all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God. No one will be declared righteous in God’s sight by the works of the law; rather, through the law we become conscious of our sin. Though we attempt to observe the law of God, the motives of our hearts expose the righteousness of the law. The law might restrain outward conduct or behavior, but it does not change the inner human heart. It is our hearts … our inner beings … that need redemption from the inclinations of the thoughts within. Indeed, there is a personal battle of temptation each one of us faces, and only through faith in Jesus Christ will we become victorious. As John attested: “For everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith.” (Cf. 1 John 5:4)
I encourage you to read the Book of Romans – Chapters 1-3 this week. They contain some powerful insight to challenge us … to afford us some discernment for the times we are living in now and for the times that lie ahead of us. So, what is the Spirit of God telling you at this moment? What conviction has He brought to your mind regarding the inclinations of your own heart? Do you judge others for the same sins? As you meet with God in your quiet or secret place, I encourage you to let the following Scriptures come to mind:
1 Corinthians 10:12-13 (NIV)
So, if you think you are standing firm, be careful that you don’t fall! No temptation (test) has overtaken you except what is common to mankind. And God is faithful; He will not let you be tempted (tested) beyond what you can bear. But when (not if) you are tempted (tested), He will also provide a way out so that you can endure it.
James 4:7-10 (NIV)
Submit yourselves, then, to God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.Come near to God and He will come near to you. Wash your hands, you sinners, and purify your hearts, you double-minded. Grieve, mourn and wail. Change your laughter to mourning and your joy to gloom. Humble yourselves before the Lord, and He will lift you up.
2 Peter 1:3-4 (NIV)
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness. Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.
My friends, we have been called out of darkness and into His wonderful light. Let truth illuminate and perform its perfect work within us! Everything exposed by the light becomes visible; and whoever lives by the truth comes into the light, so that it may be seen plainly that what they have done has been done in the sight of God. (Cf. John 3:21) Indeed, each one of us needs to guard our hearts with the Word of God and the Spirit of God. For the Father has freely given us both to correct our wayward hearts and to be conformed to the image of His Son.
So Now You Know…
Have a Blessed Day!
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. ~ Proverbs 4:23-27
So Now You Know 