“The Next Spiritual Journey” Day 9: Whether you know it or not, your heart is planning your future.

“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭4‬:‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Last time, we were discussing the importance of the words that come out of our mouth. Indeed, our words help create the world in which we will live.

Today, we turn to look at where our words are originating. For surely, if we are to speak in unison with what God has said, we must make sure that the well from which our words are drawn, is not corrupt.

Now, Jesus said that our words come out of the overflow of our hearts.

“A good tree can’t produce bad fruit, and a bad tree can’t produce good fruit. A tree is identified by its fruit. Figs are never gathered from thornbushes, and grapes are not picked from bramble bushes. A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.”

‭‭Luke‬ ‭6‬:‭43‬-‭45‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Now, as we can see from what Jesus said, the problem with our words coming from our heart, is that we can have an evil heart or a good heart. And we know that because of sin, the basic sway of the unredeemed, unchanged, human heart, is evil.

Indeed, the Lord, through Jeremiah, says something very sobering about the propensity of man’s heart.

““The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is? But I, the Lord, search all hearts and examine secret motives. I give all people their due rewards, according to what their actions deserve.””

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭17‬:‭9‬-‭10‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Wow! The Lord says that the tendency of the human heart is so evil that we can’t even begin to understand the depths of its depravity.

On the other hand, we see that the Lord declares that He does know the human heart. This fact is one of the many reasons we don’t have to worry about whether God is going to judge someone too harshly, or for that matter, not harshly enough.

The writer of proverbs indicates that the reading of the human heart is no challenge for He Who knows all things.

“Even Death and Destruction hold no secrets from the Lord. How much more does he know the human heart!”

‭‭Proverbs‬ ‭15‬:‭11‬

Jeremiah declares to the Lord that he knows that we’re not even capable of choosing the right path for ourselves.

“I know, Lord, that our lives are not our own. We are not able to plan our own course.”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭10‬:‭23‬ ‭NLT‬‬

Let’s take a look at the same scripture in The Amplified Bible:

“O Lord, I know that the path of [life of] a man is not in himself; It is not within [the limited ability of] man [even one at his best] to choose and direct his steps [in life].”

‭‭Jeremiah‬ ‭10‬:‭23‬ ‭AMP‬‬

The depravity of the unchanged human heart, makes choosing the right path, beyond our reach. And, to our starting point, makes speaking good words impossible.

But with the issue of our heart being what it is, we have more to worry about than whether we can speak what we should speak.

Our opening scripture presents another sobering statement: Our heart will determine everything we will do. As such, an unguarded heart, can produce all kinds of unimaginable actions. Alternatively, a heart in line with God‘s heart, can walk into all the things God has prepared for us to do and have.

Friend, we do well to heed the warning to keep our heart guarded. Because, whether we know it or not, what goes on in our heart is planning our future.

Next time we will consider exactly what the heart is, how we can overcome its evil sway, as well as how to keep our heart in line with God’s heart.

Peace to you.

Jesus is coming! Get ready for Him!