Weekly Devotionals - 24 April 2023

Our heart matters to God

“The heart is more deceitful than all else
And is desperately sick;
Who can understand it?
“I, the Lord, search the heart,
I test the mind,
Even to give to each man according to his ways,
According to the results of his deeds.
(Jeremiah 17:9-10)

The human being is a complex being that God has made. Each of us is a tripartite being composed of a spirit, a soul, and a body. The heart is seen as a function not only in the body but also in the spirit and the soul. In the physical body, the heart is that vital organ located within the person’s chest. It plays a crucial role in our circulatory system by pumping non-stop day and night to keep us alive. It ensures that our blood is sent to be oxygenated in our lungs, then it ensured that the oxygenated blood is sent to provide oxygen to every cell in our whole body.

Relating to the spirit and the soul, the heart is said to be the aspect of us that enables us to feel, desire, and decide. This is the heart that Jeremiah 17:9 is referring to. He is talking about our feeling and emotion, and our desire and decision in relation to pleasing God. Concerning our feeling, desire, and decision, this verse tells us that our hearts are deceitful and desperately sick and hard to understand. Why? Because we all have adopted Adam’s fallen nature, hence we are prone to fall prey to our fallen propensities.

Unlike the physical heart, the spiritual heart is hard to fathom. In the body, the function of the heart is strictly assigned and regimented to keep us alive. But in the spirit and soul, the heart is hidden and is hard to comprehend. While we know we need God, yet we have desires and propensities that drive us to make decisions that are contrary to a healthy relationship with Him. The only person that can see our hidden attitudes, and motives is God. Hence, Jeremiah 17:10 said that He is constantly searching and testing our hearts. He will deal with it when we are wayward and bless us when we steer our hearts in the direction that would please Him.

It is undeniable that the heart of the human problem is the problem of the heart. Hence the heart of education must be the education of the heart! That’s where we must start. What does the Bible propose that we do? In Proverbs 4:23, we are told to guard our heart with all diligence, for from it flows the wellspring of life. In Proverbs 3:5 we are urged to trust the Lord wholeheartedly and not to lean on our own understanding. Let us take these verses to heart!