March 20

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure.  Who can understand it?“I the Lord search the heart and examine the mind, to reward each person according to their conduct, according to what their deeds deserve.”  Jeremiah 17:9-10

These are two of the most sobering and accurate descriptions of the human heart verses in the entire Bible.  They challenge the popular advice to “follow your heart.”  The prophet Jeremiah is using language that sounds more like a medical report for someone who has a terminal (incurable) condition.  Two Hebrew words are used here to describe the condition of the human heart.  ‘Aqob describes the human heart as deceitful and beyond human repair, and ‘anash signifies a heart that is “desperately wicked, desperately sick, or incurably sick.”  No human doctor or medicine can fix or cure the condition of the human heart.  The only antidote (cure) for a deceitful and desperately wicked heart is the work of the Great Physician.  

What is it that the Great Physician does for the human heart?  He searches the heart - rewarding each person according to their conduct and what their deeds deserve.  This search - or chaqar - is an intensive examination or investigation.  God is thoroughly exploring the human heart.  He penetrates it and performs a deep, intimate, and forensic search.  He searches every part and penetrates the deepest recesses of our sinful heart.  What we are aware of is like the tip of an iceberg.  We only see a small part of who we are and have a limited awareness of the sinful nature of our heart.  With an iceberg, there is so much more underwater that is not seen.  So it is with our hearts.  The “deceitful” and “incurable” parts are hidden beneath the surface.  This is where we need the work of our Great Physician. 

While thinking about the deceitfulness of our hearts and our inability to treat the incurable parts may sound pessimistic and lacking hope, this is actually good news and the beginning of freedom.  We are given relief from our self-reliance and the belief we can cure ourselves.  We are free to go to the Great Physician who will do the work that needs to be done.  This points directly to our need for a “new heart,” which God promises later in Jeremiah 31:33 and Ezekiel 36:26.  Our sinful heart condition is incurable.  We need a new heart.  We need a spiritual transplant.  We need the work that can only be done by our loving and gracious Heavenly Father.  On our own, your heart - and mine - are deceitful and incurable.  Will you invite the Great Physician to do the work of giving you a new heart?  Will you surrender your heart to His loving care and healing touch?

Father and Great Physician - Your Word is a mirror that reveals truths I often try to ignore or hide.  I admit that my heart is deceitful and incurable.  Come into the deep, hidden places of my heart and examine my thoughts and test my heart.  Search me, O God, and know my heart, see if there is any offensive way in me.  Give me a new heart that is filled with Your grace and that produces fruit that is pleasing in Your sight.  In Your name we pray.  Amen