MARK 7:18-23 – And he said to them, “Then are you also without understanding? Do you not see that whatever goes into a person from outside cannot defile him, since it enters not his heart but his stomach, and is expelled?” (Thus he declared all foods clean.) And he said, “What comes out of a person is what defiles him. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.”
THEME OF THE DAY. IT IS A MATTER OF THE HEART. The 17th century Puritan pastor, John Flavel, wrote a 136 page book titled, “Keeping the Heart.” He based it on Proverbs 4:23 – Keep your heart with all diligence for out of it are the issues of life.” In his introduction, he states, “The keeping and right managing of the heart in every condition is the great business of a Christian’s life.” His wise statement is in harmony with the words of Jesus in today’s scripture. The heart is everything in the Christian life and not just when it comes to worship but in the daily warfare of the Christian life.
Our Lord’s words about the heart show us the source of all life’s problems and the fountain from which all sin flows. For instance, think about our relationships and when they get “testy” and tense. What are the causes? We will find the answer or answers in Jesus’ assessment of the heart – “out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person.” This list covers about everything which poisons human relationships, and if not changed by new birth (the giving of a new heart), will forever poison one’s relationship with God. But for the Christian, there are two things we must do when it comes to the heart.
First, we must never trust it. The wisest man ever to live, King Solomon, commands us, “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths” (Proverbs 3:5-6). In many cases when the heart appears in the Bible it isn’t just the seat of affections. It includes the whole of our being – mind, affections, and understanding. Solomon is telling us, “Don’t lean on your own heart. Don’t allow it to dictate life’s direction or decisions. It is unreliable or as Jeremiah would add, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9). And remember, don’t just rely on “inward peace” about a decision in life. The devil is an angel of light and may produce a false peace leading a Christian to trust this “impression in the heart” to their peril (2 Corinthians 11:14). The only safe places in making decisions in life are prolonged prayer, the Scripture, and wise counsel from Godly Christians.
A second thing to do concerning the heart and the Christian life is what I opened today’s nugget with – the guarding or keeping of it. This is daily work and battle. And to really see why it is such a daily work and battle, go back and look at the very first thing Jesus says comes from the heart. We need go no further than that one to show us the tremendous effort it takes to guard or keep our hearts – evil thoughts. How would we like for every thought we had about anyone or anything for the past seven days to be displayed on the big screen this Sunday morning in your church? If we need a reason to diligently keep the heart holy by prayer, scripture saturation, and radical obedience to God’s Word, it is in the daily battle of our thought life.
The Christian life is all about the heart from start to finish. God gives us a new heart at conversion, then the war begins; a war to keep the heart from all the things that would defile the temple of the living God which is ourselves; the dwelling place of God.
PRAYER: “Lord, help me to not trust my own heart in anything or at any time.”
QUOTE: “God may delay answering a prayer or manifesting His presence to us to develop persevering faith in us.”