A Fool’s Errand

How many times have you ever heard well-meaning people tell you to just follow your heart and everything will be OK? Sounds reasonable, right? I mean, it’s the underlying message in almost every movie, song, and self-help book that’s hot right now, so it must be the answer to life’s problems. Well, friends, it is a fool’s errand that will defile your soul and kill your spirit!

In fact, Jesus Himself declares in Matthew 15:19 that “out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, [and] blasphemies.”  He outright tells us that our heart is the birthplace of potential sins, for the heart serves as a launching pad for these specific sins listed here.

Let’s face it…if we honestly considered what is really lurking deep in our hearts, we would never follow it anywhere!  However, there is good news for those of us that are in Christ Jesus.  Psalms 51:5-6 tells us that, even though we were indeed guilty when we were born and were sinful when our mothers conceived us, God desires integrity in our inner selves, and He will teach us wisdom deep within.  It is only through His blameless Son, Jesus Christ, who was born blameless and not subject to Adam’s sinful curse, that we can truly have a clean heart.

Lastly, as we sort through the condition of our wayward hearts, let our prayer be like David’s in Psalm 51:10–“God,create a clean heart for me and renew a steadfast spirit within me.”  Amen.