The Heart of the Matter

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There is an old proverb that says “the human heart is like a ship on a stormy sea, driven about by winds blowing from the four corners of heaven.”
We have all heard it said before- maybe we have even said it- “follow your heart” or “Do what your heart feels.” Sounds good, but not exactly in line with Biblical teaching. In fact, when we read a passage like it seems completely opposite of the idea of following our hearts when it comes to decision making. So today I want to look at what the Bible says about our hearts; how our hearts both help us and hinder us from following Jesus.
First, let’s be clear on what we mean by “the heart” of a human. We are not talking about the literal organ that sits in our chest and pumps blood throughout our bodies- that is not it. There is common understanding across both the Hebrew idea of the heart that someone like the Prophet Jeremiah, the Greek idea of the heart that someone like Paul or Timothy, and our current understanding of using “the heart” in this way. We are talking about a metaphor- another way of saying the essence of a person. What makes them....them. When someone shares their heart with us we are referring to the deepest parts of themselves.
Of course it is not just with humans that we use this metaphor. We also talk about “getting to the heart of the matter” or throwing something “into the heart of the sea” We are talking serious stuff here.
So when Jeremiah says do not trust the heart because it is deceitful in all things, and desperately sick, we need to take this warning seriously.
The word deceitful that Jeremiah uses is aquob- and means tending to lead astray, and was often used to talk about roads that were uneven, bumpy, and unsafe. The word was used to warn people when they were traveling to take care along a path because traveling that way was risky because of road conditions. This is the image that God gives to Jeremiah of the human heart. But why?
Because the heart is dictated by many other factors. Your emotion, your upbringing, your circumstance, values, experience, and intellect all impact your heart. Think about it, we often talk about a person having a “change of heart” when they are presented with new information or understandings. Our emotions change our hearts- how many times do we know the right thing to do, but when faced with fear or with pride we fail to do it- because our emotions change our heart. Think about your upbringing- I just talked with someone this week and their upbringing taught them to fight when they are pushed in a corner, but their spouse was taught that any form of violence was wrong- their upbringing influences what their hearts tell them to do.
In fact, Proverbs actually tells us the exact opposite of what we may have heard from others. says “Hear, my son, and be wise, and direct your heart in the way.” The Bible would advocate that it is not the heart that should guide us, but we that should guide our hearts.
Hear, my son, and be wise,
and direct your heart in the way.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
You see, the human heart is not infallible- it is a product of the life you surround yourself with. The music you listen to, the tv you watch, the friends you associate with, the place your grew up, the kind of education you recieved, they all inform your heart....so what does that mean?
Well, listen to Paul in 14 For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, 15 from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, 16 that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love
Paul uses the image of Christ dwelling our hearts. In other words, taking up residence of control of the center of who we are. When the presence of Jesus is in us things start to change.
The Holy Bible: English Standard Version (Wheaton, IL: Crossway Bibles, 2016), .
What we are talking about here is centrality of Kingship in the heart. Here’s what I mean by that: It is one thing to have Jesus in your heart. I know a ton of people that have done that. Jesus is in there- along with their wife, and their kids, and their favorite sports teams, and burritos, and all of the other things that make them who they are- Jesus is a resident of their hearts. However, it is something completely different to make Jesus the KING OF YOUR HEART. That is where people start getting separated. Jesus wants more than residence- JESUS WANTS KINGSHIP.
You see, you can follow your heart if your heart is focused on Christ. Jesus doesn’t want to merely influence your decision making- Jesus wants to dictate it.
Second, remember what Jeremiah said in 17:9? He went on to say that the heart is desperately sick. The word literally mean infected beyond repair. Jeremiah saying that our hearts have a sickness, and its called sin there is nothing that you are I can do to fix it.
I read a story of father who was having a tea party with his 2 year old daughter when his wife came home from work. She walked in and he insisted that she stop and wait to see what happened. She watched as her husband drank the cup of water- tea in his daughters eyes, he then asked for a refill. Joyfully his daughter ran around the corner and down the hall, appearing with another full cup of water. The wife watched, amazed, as her husband as he placed the cup to his lips and began to slurp down the water..she asked how many cups he had drank, and he said “maybe a dozen, why?” she responded “did it ever occur to you that the only place in the house she can reach to get water was is the toilet?”
We would never knowingly drink from the toilet… DISGUSTING right? But in many places in the world that is what happens after considerable filtering, cleaning, and purifying. The water straight from the waste would make you sick, if not kill you, it has to be purified
Well, listen to the words of Peter in “And God, who knows the heart, bore witness to them, by giving them the Holy Spirit just as he did to us, 9 and he made no distinction between us and them, having cleansed their hearts by faith”
We too need a purification, a cleaning. Our hearts need faith to come in and decontaminate our hearts and the sin that lives in them. If we are to follow our hearts, our hearts need to be purified through faith in Jesus.
The Psalmist put it this way:

10  Create in me a clean heart, O God,

and renew a right spirit within me.

In case you are wondering, clean- the Hebrew word Tahor- literally means purified. Take that which is sick in me and make it whole.
Here’s the thing, church. It is one thing to pray for Jesus to come into your heart. Most, if not all of us have done that. We have prayed to “give our hearts to Jesus.” We make this the $100,000 question of faith- have you given your heart to the Lord? We ask. This is the conversion question- and it is important and has its place. However, there has to be another question asked after this. Once we get the conversion question we then need the discipleship question- not have you given your heart to Jesus- but have you asked Jesus to give you his heart. At some point we need a transplant. We need to allow our hearts to be made new by the very presence of Jesus.
Or as God said to the prophet Ezekiel:

I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.

So, how? How is the heart of God revealed to us? Manifested in us? How do we know what the heart of God is? We read the Word of God. After all, remember the beginning of this sermon some 15 minutes ago? I told you that the heart is like a ship tossed on the sea? Well, I know a Jesus that walked on the Stormy sea, I can read about him and hear from him in the pages of this Bible. Remember I told you that our hearts can be swayed and dictated and changed by the things around us? I know God who says He is the same yesterday, today, and forever, and I can read about him and hear from him in the pages of this Bible. Remember how I told you that sin has made our hearts sick and infected? Diseased even? I know the only sinless person that has ever walked this Earth, and I can read his story and teaching and hear from him in the pages of this Bible.
Friends, don’t follow you heart. Follow the heart of God- revealed to you in the pages of the Bible- placed inside of you by the Holy Spirit and manifested in you by faith....
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