Foolish Heart

A very popular song from the 80’s was Foolish Heart by Steve Perry. Perry is warning his heart against foolishly falling in love, warns his heart that it has “been wrong before, don’t be wrong anymore.”

Many people live their lives as “one and done” if they are hurt in a relationship in order to protect themselves. Perry is wisely recognizing that our hearts can deceive us. We believe we know ourselves and yet Scripture tells us otherwise:

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

Secular humanists believe that people are by nature good and well-intentioned. They believe that over time, mankind will cure the evil that has overtaken society.

Karen and I recently visited the Creation Museum and one of the best things they have captured from Scripture is the Fall of Man. When you go from the creation area into the corruption area, you see how quickly man became wicked. No one is immune from it:

“This is an evil in all that is done under the sun: that one thing happens to all. Truly the hearts of the sons of men are full of evil; madness is in their hearts while they live, and after that they go to the dead.” (Ecclesiastes 9:3)

What is it about our hearts that is so untrustworthy? Why am I not able to trust my heart above all things? Should I not be able to follow it? The answer to the first two questions is there is an absence of Jesus. The answer to the last question is yes if your heart is being molded by the One who knows it best.

We wrongly believe that if we can just change our ways of thinking, then mankind will overcome the evil that has wreaked havoc over the generations. Well, has not knowledge and human wisdom grown over the generations? The answer is yes and yet there is greater evil in our day than in days past. Returning to the Prophet Jeremiah, we find the reason:

“O Jerusalem, wash your heart from wickedness, that you may be saved. How long shall your evil thoughts lodge within you?” (Jeremiah 4:14)

Beloved, we cannot outthink our hearts. We cannot fool our hearts with our minds. We cannot overcome wicked souls with wishful thinking. The most devastating part to this truth is that if we insist on doing things our own way, God will give us over to ourselves.

You may be thinking this is the way it should be, and it is. However, the outcome is not what you may imagine it to be. You can take a look around and see what that has brought. Again Scripture explains why:

“And even as they did not like to retain God in their knowledge, God gave them over to a debased mind, to do those things which are not fitting.” (Romans 1:28)

If change is going to come to our lives; if revival is going to spread across our land, then we are going to have to be honest with ourselves. A new president and Congress is not going to bring the change we all seek. Our local governments are not going to clean up the messes in our communities.

Change comes one heart at a time. It comes through recognizing that I am a sinner. That recognition should bring repentance. True repentance will bring a renewal in each of our hearts. It is a work of God:

“Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.” (2 Corinthians 5:17)

So what about you?

Are you going to continue to follow your foolish heart, knowing it’s been wrong before and hope that it won’t be wrong anymore?

Or are you going to trust Jesus Christ to give you a new heart and let Him bring the revival in each of us that mankind is so desperately seeking?

This choice is up to you and me…

In Christ
Dave
Ps. 37:4

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    Copyright © 2016 David Jeffers

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