Jeremiah 17:9-10

NASB	NLT	VOICE
9 “The heart is more deceitful than all else And is desperately sick; Who can understand it?	9 “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?	9 The heart is most devious and incurably sick. Who can understand it?
10 I, the Lord, search the heart, I test the mind, To give to each person according to his ways, According to the results of his deeds.	10 But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.”	10 It is I, the Eternal One, who probes the innermost heart and examines the innermost thoughts. I will compensate each person justly, according to his ways and by what his actions deserve.

In the biblical context, the “heart” often represents the center of human will, emotions, and intellect. The heart being deceitful emphasizes our tendency towards sin and self-deception. There is a need for divine intervention and transformation, as human efforts alone cannot overcome the heart’s deceit. The heart being sick and wicked shows that there is nothing we can do to fix its deceitfulness. The ultimate cure is found in Jesus Christ, whose sacrifice and resurrection provides the means for a spiritual renewal. The rhetorical question at the end of verse 9 shows us how complex our heart truly is. Only God, who searches and knows our heart, can truly understand it’s complexity. We don’t fully understand how our bodies work, so we must rely on our senses and feelings that God highlights to build our wisdom.

As believers, we are called to guard our hearts intentionally, filling them with God’s Word and aligning our desires toward His plan for us. You may have heard the phrase: “The eyes are the gateway to the heart.” This says what we visually take in, and take in with our other senses, exists in our hearts and reflects on learned personality. If we surround ourselves with people who like baseball, and take in baseball games and information with them, we will find baseball becoming part of our personality. If we surround ourselves with people who drink heavily, we may become heavy drinkers. (I know that was apples to oranges, but it truly shows the spectrum of how our environment affects us.) God wants us to build our personality around him. To surround ourselves with his teachings whether it would be through the Bible, through prayer, worship music, Bible studies, church services, and serving others. God wants us to envelope ourselves into understand how his love is greater than anything we can understand, and how to share that same love with our neighbor.

God has the ability to understand our innermost thoughts and intentions of people. The heart’s condition is crucial in determining one’s relationship with God. The “mind” refers to the inner workings of human thought and reasoning. God shows his role as the ultimate judge of our motives and intentions, and including his focus on the heart shows us how comprehensive God’s judgment truly is. God’s judgment is based on the moral and ethical paths we take, and it should be done God’s way. We also know that our actions have consequences. God is just and will reward or punish individuals based on their actions.

Understanding that God examines our hearts should lead us to live with integrity and accountability before him. God knows what we are thinking before we even acknowledge it, if we acknowledge it. “So why do we need to go to God about our troubles if he knows our thoughts?” Great question! In my opinion, it’s because of intentionality. God is not going to force us to do anything. If he forced us, we are no longer in a relationship but in a worker mode. If he forced us, it would be like your boss telling you what to do. By allowing us to have free will, we find ourselves learning that God’s way is healthy. God encourages us to live of compassion, grace, and mercy towards all people. When we’re in trouble, God wants us to acknowledge that we need help, and for us to remember that he is there to help us in whatever way he can.

Next slice of Manna: Manna for the Mind #234