All of us have things that roll around
over and over in our minds, phrases, things we have heard over and over
throughout our lives; in psychology, it is called a feedback loop. For instance, if your mother said "you are just like your father" over and over you
may very well grow up and become "just like your father." These
things mark us for life for good or bad. If your dad was a wonderful guy and
your mom said "you are just like your dad" then it would leave a
positive mark perhaps even giving you the courage to face some difficulty. But,
what about the things heard from society phrases that sound good and sensible?
How about things that well-meaning friends, movies, songs tell us to do such as
"just follow your heart."?
Many
will not agree with this, however, “just follow your heart” is not always sound
advice, there need to be some contingencies with that advice. Following your
heart might take you down a path to much pain which may cause you to reflect on
what caused your pain. “How could it end with disaster if I followed my heart”?
The answer is in the contingency, who is guiding your heart?
I think it is human nature to blame
others when we have disasters, failure, and suffering in our lives. Perhaps it
was that girl, or that guy, or the government, or the economy or just fill in
the blank, there may even be some truth to our claim, maybe that person did
cheat, or lie to you or break their promise. However, we only need to look at the
cause and effect of our actions to determine if following our heart was a wise
decision in the first place. As the saying goes “hindsight is 20/20”.
Compare the advice to “just follow
your heart” to what the Bible reveals on the subject by identifying the
conditions of the heart.
“The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9) (The heart in his verse is inclusive to all humanity.)
· The heart is more deceitful than anything else.
· The heart is desperately sick.
The conclusion is that the human heart
is not to be trusted. The heart, when left to its own desires, will
choose sin. When making decisions make them based on ownership of your heart, if
you have given your heart to God then let Him guide you to the honest, healthy
decision. Then leave all the consequences up to Him. Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I
might not sin against thee. (Psalm 119:11) King David wrote that Psalm, the same King
who committed horrible sin against God and man. David gives the key; we need
God’s Word in our heart to keep us from ourselves.
There is a passage in the Book of Numbers I personally identify
with. I have in the past followed my heart and the desires of my own eyes and
ended up in a sense playing the harlot. (Just like Israel did). I put my desire for being married above my
desire to follow God's plan. Even though my actions were seemingly honorable, (marriage
and commitment) in the end, I ended up with my heart broken on two accounts, one
was the broken relationship, the other with the damage to my fellowship with
God.
In this passage, Israel is commanded to put blue tassels on
their clothes so they will remember to keep the commandments of the Lord and
not follow the desires of their heart, the tassels are there to remind them of
the commandments of the Lord so they would not repeat their moral failures of
the past.
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“Speak to the sons of Israel, and tell
them that they shall make for themselves tassels on the corners of their
garments throughout their generations, and that they shall put on the tassel of
each corner a cord of blue. It shall be a tassel for you to look at and remember all
the commandments of the Lord, so as to do them and not follow after your
own heart and your own eyes, after which you played the harlot,” (Numbers 15:38-39)
· Look at and remember all
the commandments of the Lord
· So as to do them, not
follow after your own heart and your own eyes
· (which resulted in
harlotry)
Rejoice, young man,
during your childhood, and let your heart be pleasant during the days of young
manhood. And follow the impulses of your heart and the desires of your eyes. Yet know that God will bring you to judgment for all
these things. (Ecclesiastes 11:9)
Solomon is instructing us to possess the insight to look ahead, challenging us to answer where could our dreams &
desires and impulses lead to? Every decision you make has eternal consequences
both good and bad. A
heart submitted and directed by God may be telling you to call on an elderly
shut-in from your church bringing them dinner giving a few hours of your time;
that would be a heart directed by God. (The judgment of God in that situation
would be for a reward.) On the other hand what if the heart is
telling you to have a relationship with someone who is not a Christian? Or even worse, married. What if
that person fills all the checks of what you desire, they are attractive,
smart, fun loving, come from a great family, have a great career, are
courteous, but they are not a Christian or are married, or of the same gender, what should you do? Should you “follow
your heart”?
Do not be bound together with unbelievers;
for what partnership have righteousness and lawlessness, or what fellowship has
light with darkness. (2 Corinthians 6:14)
There are many reasons to
obey God’s commandments, by obeying the call to salvation you will have eternal
life, by obeying the instructions you hide in your heart you will develop
unshakeable character in life, those character qualities will guide you in being successful in life. The truth is, the blessing of God comes to those who keep his
Word, they seek his word with their whole heart, they do not set aside any part
of their heart as their own by holding a grudge, cherishing a sin. The result
is their walk is right, and the actions of their lives represent they are
following God’s will for their lives.
Blessed are they that
keep his testimonies, and that seek him with the whole heart.
I know that many people who do not put
their faith (trust) in the God of the Bible do so because they have had their
hearts broken in some unfair way. Maybe they brought it on themselves by not
heeding the warnings in Scripture, or wise parents or grandparents. Maybe they
put faith in people they should have been able to trust such as parents and
grandparents and were let down and had their heart broken. However, we are
commanded to trust Him, not them, not even ourselves. If you haven’t given Him
ownership of your heart, now is the time to do so. After all, he is the only
one who can heal your broken heart and give you a new one.
He heals the brokenhearted And binds up their wounds. (Psalm
147:3)
And I will give you a new heart, and a new
spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your
flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)
Take delight in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)
Take delight in the LORD and he will give you the desires of your heart. (Psalm 37:4)
This old
imperfect Hymn embodies this message. Make it your blue tassel.