Jeremiah 17:9: “The heart is deceitful above all things, / And desperately wicked; / Who can know it?”

October 16th, 2024 by Pastor Ed in devotional

The Hebrew word for heart is frequently used to identify the center of a person’s will, intellect, and emotions. It is the most comprehensive term used to refer to a human being. Scripture clearly teaches that our hearts are incurably sick, unreliable, deceptive, and fickle. And it is obvious, since the word heart appears more than 835 times in the Old Testament, that God is very concerned with the human heart.

How are we to get along in this sin-sick world when we, and those around us, have such “deceitful” and “desperately wicked” hearts? First, we must have a heart transplant. Only by repenting and receiving a new heart from the Great Physician can we become new creatures in Jesus Christ. Second, we must place our confidence and trust in God alone, not man or self. In a world full of deception, we must trust the One who never deceives. Though many will turn against the believer, there is One, and only one, who can absolutely be counted on now and into eternity. On our own, we have no hope, but God will get us through as long as we keep turning back to Him every time we fall. However, if there is no repentance, there can be no pardon.

Some years ago a murderer was sentenced to death in the United States. The state was deeply indebted to the murderer’s brother for former services, so the brother asked the state’s governor to pardon his brother. The pardon was granted, and the man visited his condemned brother with the pardon in his pocket. “What would you do, if you received a pardon?” he asked him. “The first thing I would do,” his brother answered, “is track down the judge who sentenced me and murder him. And the next thing I would do is track down the chief witness and murder him.” The brother rose and left the prison with the pardon still in his pocket.

“LORD, keep our hearts soft and pliable in Your hands this day, ready to quickly turn to You for every need.”