The Folly of Trusting Our Hearts

"He who trusts in his own heart is a fool" (Prov 28:26)

"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?" (Jer 17:9)

We live in a world that commonly says, "Follow your heart", and the message is constantly pounded into our brains. Consequently, we have a tendency to make snap decisions based on the whims of our emotions rather than on Biblical wisdom or consultation with the Holy Spirit. The result over time becomes a lifetime of destructive choices and haphazard living resulting in the culmination of nothing.

Ultimately, our lives will be judged on one simple question, "Did you believe in Jesus Christ, and accept His gift of salvation by making Him Lord of your life?" There will be many who will say, "Lord, I believed in you...but I was too busy following the whims of my heart to truly make you Lord of my life. I believed, but never altered my lifestyle to conform to your Word." And there is no salvation for such as those because even demons believe in Christ Jesus, but they are damned because they refuse to worship and follow Him.

Why do we live? Is it merely to follow our own lusts and fulfill our wants? Or are we preparing ourselves for an eternal kingdom under the throne of God? What good is all that we gather or even create during our lifetimes, if we end up living the type of life that destroys ourselves for eternity and destroys others in the process?

By the above statements, you might think that I think so highly of myself and believe that my life is righteous, but it is actually the complete opposite. Every day of every moment, I am reminded of how vile and wicked my heart is. No man is above the temptations of this world, and they are a continual pull - of which my heart is easily a willing partner. Many times I fail to check my temptations, but I pray that for life's major decisions and choices, that I do have the wisdom to stop and be measured in my decision making (not that I have never failed in this regard either).

Despite myself, I do know that my heart is for the Lord. The Christian life is not devoid of failures, but rather it is one that strives to be bettered by them while conforming ourselves to be more like Christ. Because we love Him, we want to be like Him. Not that our actions have any saving power, but rather the willingness to change and submit is just an indicator of the fact that our hearts are given to the Lord. He ultimately has done the salvation work on the cross, and His resurrection reflects His power over death.

So what I'm reminded today is that I need to fill myself with God's word and meditate on the scriptures constantly in order to make God's ways the default system within me. Otherwise, I would always be pulled this way or that way by my wicked heart. Every commercial or advertisement would be an easy sell for such a state of mind, and I would ultimately be sold off piece by piece to all the shiny baubles of this world.

Lord Jesus, I know that my heart has been in desperate need of reformation as I have been stagnant and in a state of atrophy in regards to my faith and in the knowledge of Your wisdom. Whatever happens in my life is secondary to living out a life in submission to Your Lordship. Please help me to do that daily, to live in conformity to your wisdom and not by the flighty whims of my heart. By the unchanging power of Your name, AMEN.

Thank You For The Cross

"...but the angel said, "Do not be so surprised. You are looking for Jesus, the Nazarene, who was crucified. He isn't here! He has been raised from the dead!" (Mk 16:6 NLT)

The cross - it all comes down to the cross of Christ and what He did for us. Man's religion is about striving to earn bragging rights with God from which we hope to barter a better afterlife. However, Christ made all those man-made shenanigans moot. He took on our punishment for our sins voluntarily upon Himself in order to save us. He bore the ultimate punishment, and defeated sin & death through the cross.

Everything changed on that resurrection day. Doom and gloom became joy because Christ's resurrection proved that death was defeated. And because of His sacrifice, we no longer have to exhaust our human energies to be good in order to "win" God's grace - the work has been completed.

But as Christians, we still strive to do good, but the motivations are different. When Christ saved us, we were changed, our relationship as sons and daughters to Father God was cemented. And knowing Father God, we now desire to imitate Him as best as possible. We will never attain perfection, but we take uncomfortable steps to cleanse ourselves of sins that grip us with the deep seated knowledge that His strength is readily available to support us. We may stumble, but never fall.

Lord Jesus, there have been many recent moments when I have felt inadequate and discouraged. But since I have met You over 10 years ago, I have never felt alone. Never. Thank You for walking with me and gifting me with a beautiful wife and daughter. Please help me to keep pushing forward in faith, knowing that I don't have to be perfect because you've already paid the price for my sins in full. Instead, I just need a sincere heart to get better and surrender my life over to You to do with as You please. That is my heart's desire. You are Lord of my life and I know that although the future is unclear and with so many unknowns, You know best and have every moment of my life under control. In Jesus' name, Amen.