After the tumultuous year 2020 was, many of us are looking for a new way to navigate through the rest of this year.
While many well-intentioned people suggest that we follow our hearts, it may be our hearts that are the issue.
Our hearts are sick. If you had the option to let everyone you know read your mind for one hour, would you do it? Most of us would answer no, but why? It's because we know our thoughts are sudden and wander easily. We know those unfriendly, unkind, foul, and sometimes even malicious thoughts would come to the surface. There isn't any way we could risk those we know hearing all that our heart truly ponders. Our hearts so frequently give thought to what we would never dare say to anyone's face. Finally, our hearts regularly lack compassion, humility, and generosity. I certainly know this is true for me, but who else confirms this reality for us?
It is God Himself who confirms and reminds us that our "heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick" (English Standard Version, Jer. 17:9-10). He tells us plainly that "None is righteous, no, not one; no one understands, no one seeks for God" (Rom. 3:10-11) and that "no one does good, not even one" (Rom. 3:12). Jesus said that "from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness" (Mk. 7:21-22). Nobody is above sin because we are all by nature sinful. Our sinfulness isn't merely a list of bad things we've done, it's a state that we're in. It's not just what we've done, but who we are. Finally, because our hearts are sick, we all "fall short of the glory of God" (Rom. 3:23).
We shouldn't follow a broken compass.
If we're looking for a compass to guide us through not only the rest of the year but life, then we need something more reliable than our hearts. Our hearts have proven to be deceitful, unfair, spiteful, uncompassionate, changing, clouded, and ultimately, sinful. A compass that is always changing the direction it's pointing to is not one we should follow. We need something reliable, something that will be a constant for us.
We should follow Jesus. Jesus, the Son of God, is a solid rock for us to stand on. He is "the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8). While we may be in a state of sin, our status before God is righteousness. Jesus took our sin upon Himself and paid for it on the cross, all the while through our faith He gives us His perfect righteousness. He is "the way, and the truth, and the life" (John 14:6) and cannot lead us astray. He is our Advocate (1 Jn. 2:1), the great Shepherd (Heb. 13:20), the Lion of Judah (Rev. 5:5), and our Mighty God (Isaiah 9:6). There is no better person to look to when we face trials and suffering.
While our hearts lead us astray, Jesus' heart pulses for us with a love that is never-ending.
We can confess with David that His "mercy and goodness shall follow me all the days of my life" (Ps. 23:6). Better than a self-help teacher, or a guide to get our life back on track; Jesus saves us from our depraved hearts and gives us a dwelling in the house of the Lord (Ps. 23:6). Knowing this, we respond in thanks and praise, and Christ's love compels us to live our lives for Him (2 Cor. 5:14). And where does He reveal what He wants us to do for the rest of 2021? He reveals Himself, and His will for us in Scripture; it is there that we should look to find Him.
