Is following your heart the best thing to do?
It sounds like one of the trite recommendations that seemed to permeate western society for a few decades. Maybe it reminds us of the temptation in the Garden
The Word of God teaches we are filled with selfish, self-serving desires and the emotion of it all can run roughshod on a once innocent heart.
There’s much to be said about how are culture has been inundated with the idea of “Just Do It” which unfortunately doesn’t just apply to an athletic achievement. It is practically carte blanche to promote in all sorts of behavior. Before it was anything as long as you keep it to yourself. Nowadays, the once hidden behavior demands societal acceptance, or else.
Going with your intuition without practical experience usually results in mistakes, sometimes quite significant and life changing ones. Learning from “hard knocks” is often the result of learning from those mistakes; however, to learn from wisdom, which is timeless truth, takes humility.
If we follow our heartfelt desires or passions in a direction that does not glorify God by respecting His commandments, then we should expect nothing more than what is due a law breaker in a just court. In the worst case, being unrepentant and not faithful in trusting Christ as Lord and Savior, is eternal separation from God after death.
And what about the heart?
“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can know it?
10 I, Yahweh, search the heart;
I test the inmost being,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the fruit of his deeds. Jeremiah 17:8-10
If you want to read about Godly grief, in the days before the Flood, we have an omnipotent glimpse of the heart of man:
5 Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And Yahweh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. -Genesis 6:5-6.
If you happen to be one of the people who think that humankind is somehow evolving beyond having a heart full of evil, I would beg to differ. If anything, prosperity and so called human enlightenment, which involves a greater number of people today that in anytime in history, only accentuates the fact that corruption flows throughout society and technology only makes it easier to see it real time.
Therefore, no. I think it would be fair to argue, that base human nature is evil, is capable of evil at the slightest provocation, and certainly with any assurance of not being caught. When faced with two sinful choices, we often justify the lesser, because it is not as bad.
As I eluded to earlier, in our culture that is is strongly relativistic, with a little bit of corrupted of reasoning, we can put our sin on the pedestal and flaunt it.
5 Then Yahweh saw that the evil of man was great on the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually. 6 And Yahweh regretted that He had made man on the earth, and He was grieved in His heart. -Genesis 6:5-6.
Yes, I repeated the last passage.
Sin corrupts
For further proof the human heart is far from pure, no matter how we romanticize it, Jesus sheds the light on what a Holy God thinks of sin:
20 “For I say to you that unless your righteousness surpasses that of the scribes and Pharisees, you will not enter the kingdom of heaven. 21 “You have heard that the ancients were told, ‘You shall not murder’ and ‘Whoever murders shall be guilty before the court.’ 22 But I say to you that everyone who is angry with his brother shall be guilty before the court; and whoever says to his brother, ‘Raca,’ shall be guilty before the Sanhedrin; and whoever says, ‘You fool,’ shall be guilty enough to go into the fiery hell. – Matthew 5:20-21
27 “You have heard that it was said, ‘You shall not commit adultery’; 28 but I say to you that everyone who looks at a woman to lust for her has already committed adultery with her in his heart. 29 But if your right eye makes you stumble, tear it out and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to be thrown into hell.30 And if your right hand makes you stumble, cut it off and throw it from you; for it is better for you to lose one of the parts of your body, than for your whole body to go into hell. -Matthew 5:27-30
In short, what this passage is saying, is not to go around cutting your physical self to pieces, but two things are apparent, it’s better to turn away from sin rather that continuing to dwell in it. Sin will lead to hell, it’s better to remove your self from that which will cause you to be a subject cast into hell.
Can’t we do that on our own?
That is why the gift of God’s grace is so important. Not only is it important to receive, but it is also crucial to transform. Not only is it life changing to receive, but it is essential in God’s merciful plan to do for us that which we cannot do for ourselves.
This is all to say that, the “heart” is not to be the arbiter of right decisions without the influence and the knowledge of God’s wisdom. Wisdom is what holds true no matter what. God’s wisdom spans eternity. No matter the circumstances we can rely on God’s truths.
The fear of Yahweh is the beginning of knowledge; Ignorant fools despise wisdom and discipline. – Proverbs 1:7
Take my discipline and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choicest fine gold.
11 For wisdom is better than pearls;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her. – Proverbs 8:10-11
Take my discipline and not silver,
And knowledge rather than choicest fine gold.
11 For wisdom is better than pearls;
And all desirable things cannot compare with her. – Proverbs 11:2
Wisdom Personified in Christ
In closing, I want to express how truth and wisdom are personified in the eternal God. An honest assessment of wisdom must be made in the context the Creator’s character and in his kingdom.
Jesus did much to reveal the. Kingdom of heaven as only the Son of God could. As he had said to his disciple Philip:
8 Philip *said to Him, “Lord, show us the Father, and it is enough for us.” 9 Jesus *said to him, “Have I been with you all so long and have you not come to know Me, Philip? He who has seen Me has seen the Father; how can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? 10 Do you not believe that I am in the Father, and the Father is in Me? The words that I say to you I do not speak from Myself, but the Father abiding in Me does His works. – John 14:8-10.
I am pressing this point: Truth and wisdom are in the Lord Jesus Christ anti is founded in the heavenly kingdom. Without seeing life in the context of God’s kingdom to come, it is not possible for one to understand truth or wisdom.
The revelation of what was hidden in the Old Testament was revealed in the New Testament through Jesus Christ. This precious reality is encapsulated in the unworldly parables that Jesus taught to explain God’s kingdom.
Here is one that exemplifies the willingness to sacrifice ones life to serve the Risen Lord and the achieve eternal fellowship with God. The parable of the Pearl of Great Cost is particularly insightful, because pearls are beautiful gems that are created through suffering. Christ suffered because he loved us and was willing to suffering humiliation and the Father’s righteous wrath and then death that you and I may enjoy eternal fellowship with Him.
45 “Again, the kingdom of heaven is like a merchant seeking fine pearls, 46 and upon finding one pearl of great value, he went and sold all that he had and bought it. – Matthew 13:45-46.
4 and He will wipe away every tear from their eyes; and there will no longer be any death; there will no longer be any mourning, or crying, or pain. (Revelation 21:4a).
Have you repented of your sin and have you placed your trust, not in your heart, not in the ways of the world, but in faith in the Lord Jesus Christ?
For a one minute explanation of the Gospel, watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCP9UcC7BzE
For a review of the Ten Commandments: https://www.challenyee.com/the-ten-commandments/
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Bible passages from the Legacy Standard Version
CKY
1-29-24