In my ongoing journey of discovering the primal essence of my faith and living it out as authentically as I can, I’m learning that many of the Bible verses that we rarely hear rousing sermons about during a Sunday morning gathering, may well be some of the most relevant verses to successfully living the Christian life.
Now, I’m not by any stretch of the imagination suggesting that I have empirical data backing up my claim, nor am I suggesting that I’ve heard every sermon there is to be heard, or that I have some divine insight into the hearts of every preacher or pastor. I am however suggesting that I’ve visited enough churches and heard enough sermons to know that a verse like the one below is not typically a part of our Sunday sermon series.
In Jeremiah 17, the prophet Jeremiah is decrying the sins of the people of Judah and reminding them of what potentially lies ahead if they don’t repent of their ways. It would appear that their sin is largely centered around their trust in their wealth, power, and position. As he prophesies to the people, he declares that their trust in material possession and their own abilities will ultimately be their undoing and will only lead to destruction.
He reminds them that ‘following your heart,’ while it may be the refrain of many pop culture songs, is a dangerous road to walk and a guaranteed bottomless pit.
Here’s how he says it:
The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? - Jeremiah 17:9 (ESV)
Now I know this truth experientially. Many years ago, when I was on the speaking circuit that regularly featured my photo in Charisma magazine for one conference or another, a precious friend told me something that chilled me to the bone and caused me to—I’m ashamed to say—ostracize him for a season. His words were, “I think you prefer the accolade of men to the integrity of God.”
While I won’t go into the details of what elicited this statement, suffice it to say that many years later I discovered, sadly so, how true his words were. What’s even scarier is the fact that in the season when he made that assertion, I was a pastor at a mega church in Colorado Springs, and ministry couldn’t have been going better. In addition, I just couldn’t see what he was saying because I loved God with all my heart and believed that I was doing what He’d called me to do.
How’s that possible? you might be asking. Simple really: The heart is deceitful. The natural propensity of the human soul doesn’t lend itself to altruism, and the accolades of men can create a heady euphoria that blinds and mesmerizes. The prophet Isaiah seems to agree with Jeremiah’s assertions about the heart:
The Lord says: “These people worship me with their mouths, and honor me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Their worship is based on nothing but human rules….” -Isaiah 29:13 (NCV)
I don’t know about you, but for me the allure of fame, fortune, and accomplishment can be hypnotic if I’m not consistently attentive to my primal purpose. I don’t want that to be the overarching story of my journey. I want it to be said that the more I lived my faith, the more I loved and served those less fortunate than I. I want my heart to match up with my words and my lips to reflect my deepest commitment to my Savior and to His cause. Only then will my heart and soul truly reflect an authentic faith in Jesus Christ.
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