Readings for today: Jeremiah 17-19, 1 Timothy 6:2-21
“Just follow your heart.” It makes for a great Disney tune but it’s not a great philosophy for life. Unfortunately, our culture promotes this lie relentlessly. Everyone from Silicon Valley icons to Hollywood entertainers to academic luminaries to political activists to sports stars all share the same advice. “Follow your heart.” “Trust your gut.” “Believe in yourself.” “Do what your heart tells you and your mind will follow.” It sounds really good, doesn’t it? Almost biblical. It taps into our innermost longings. It affirms our secret desires. It seems like the only path to true happiness and joy.
Sadly, the opposite seems to be true. How many stories do we know of men and women who “followed their heart”, achieved international celebrity and great success, but lost their families in the process? How many stories do we hear of the secret lives of famous men and women that are filled with addiction, abuse, neglect, and trauma? How many experiences have we had where our “hearts” led us to some pretty dark and twisted places? Shoot, I could give you several examples from my own life where “following my heart” led me into a ditch. None of us start out intending to go there of course. None of us begin with bad intentions. We are simply human. We make mistakes. We are prone to failure. We can’t seem to get out of our own way.
So here’s the question…Why? Why is it that human beings seem so naturally bent towards self-destruction? Why, after tens of thousands of years, do we still exhibit a penchant for cruelty, hatred, greed, violence, and an unbridled lust for power? Jeremiah 17:9 offers us a clear and compelling diagnosis. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” These ancient words ring so true, do they not? We simply cannot trust our hearts. We cannot trust our feelings. We cannot trust our emotions. They change with the wind. They are influenced far too easily. The endorphin rush they create overrides our rationality. Eats away at our commitments. We find ourselves doing the very things we hate and not doing the things we love. We find ourselves wrapped up in all kinds of “wrong” when we know there’s a better, truer path to “right.” We find ourselves compromising or rationalizing all sorts of sin. It’s craziness. Literal insanity to trust in an organ that is so fickle and yet we seem to fall into this same trap over and over again.
So what’s the answer? We turn to the Lord. The One who made us and shaped us and formed us and fashioned us. The One who called us and claimed us as His own from eternity. The One who first established us and gave our lives purpose and meaning and showed us the way to true fulfillment. The One who would not abandon us in our sin but came to us. Suffered for us. Died for us. All to set us free so that we might live again. "I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds." (Jeremiah 17:10)
Here is the fundamental question we have to answer on a daily, even hourly basis. Do we trust the One who created us and loved us or do we trust ourselves? Do we trust in the One whose love is always steadfast, loyal and true or do we trust our fickle, human hearts? Do we trust the One who never makes mistakes? Never falls down on the job? Never fails to deliver on His promises? Or do we trust the guy or gal in the mirror with the incredible spotty track record? The great news of the gospel is that we have a Good Father in heaven who delights in giving good gifts to His children. We have a gracious Savior who gave His own life to deliver us from slavery to sin. We have the Holy Spirit living inside us who promises to guide and direct and show us the way to true joy and everlasting peace. Trust Him today!
Readings for tomorrow: None