Saving a Terminal Heart

 Jeremiah 17:9-10

9  “The human heart is the most deceitful of all things,

and desperately wicked.

Who really knows how bad it is?

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.”

When you hear the words "heart failure," a pang of panic, regret or sorrow may surge through you. Many women have lost parents, friends, or a husband to a weakly pumping heart. Maybe you suffer from heart disease. But even if your physical heart is healthy, your spiritual heart is a terminal case. The prophet Jeremiah described is this way: "The heart is...beyond cure."
   Maybe you believe your own spiritual heart works just fine, thank you. Your own efforts will cure you-or so you think. "Go with your heart," the world says. What do you believe? Do you agree with Jeremiah's assessment or are you feeling that the world is right on this point?
   To determine the state of your heart you need the help of a professional. Better than any doctor's diagnosis, God probes the inner workings of our hearts. Just as a woman with a feeble heart can only guess at the true condition of her ventricles without an expert exam., so each of us must rely on God's perfect knowledge of our soul. When you have to choose between your own assessment of your heart and God's, do you believe your prognosis or do you listen to the One with the power to heal?
   Most of us would use any means possible to halt progressive heart failure, but we still face the temptation to doubt the doctor's orders. Maybe we're told to eat right and exercise, but it seems too hard to keep on living a healthy lifestyle. In the same way, we might disbelieve that God's searching eyes can see the areas of our hearts we try to hide. Or we tell ourselves that what is wrong won't likely kill us-at least today. So we ignore it. Not doing what we need to do to heal our physical heart will allow the damage to progress. Disregard of our spiritual heart is just as devastating.
   The bad news: You have a broken heart. The good news: God can sure the incurable.
-Women's Devotional Bible 

[Isaiah 58:6-14]

6 “No, this is the kind of fasting I want:

Free those who are wrongly imprisoned;

lighten the burden of those who work for you.

Let the oppressed go free,

and remove the chains that bind people.

7 Share your food with the hungry,

and give shelter to the homeless.

Give clothes to those who need them,

and do not hide from relatives who need your help.

8 “Then your salvation will come like the dawn,

and your wounds will quickly heal.

Your godliness will lead you forward,

and the glory of the Lord will protect you from behind.

9 Then when you call, the Lord will answer.

‘Yes, I am here,’ he will quickly reply.

“Remove the heavy yoke of oppression.

Stop pointing your finger and spreading vicious rumors!

10 Feed the hungry,

and help those in trouble.

Then your light will shine out from the darkness,

and the darkness around you will be as bright as noon.

11 The Lord will guide you continually,

giving you water when you are dry

and restoring your strength.

You will be like a well-watered garden,

like an ever-flowing spring.

12 Some of you will rebuild the deserted ruins of your cities.

Then you will be known as a rebuilder of walls

and a restorer of homes.

13 “Keep the Sabbath day holy.

Don’t pursue your own interests on that day,

but enjoy the Sabbath

and speak of it with delight as the Lord’s holy day.

Honor the Sabbath in everything you do on that day,

and don’t follow your own desires or talk idly.

14 Then the Lord will be your delight.

I will give you great honor

and satisfy you with the inheritance I promised to your ancestor Jacob.

I, the Lord, have spoken!”

[Matthew 15:18]

But the words you speak come from the heart—that’s what defiles you.  

[Acts 15:8-9]

8 God knows people’s hearts, and he confirmed that he accepts Gentiles by giving them the Holy Spirit, just as he did to us. 

9 He made no distinction between us and them, for he cleansed their hearts through faith.  

[Hebrews 4:12-13]

12 For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.  

13 Nothing in all creation is hidden from God. Everything is naked and exposed before his eyes, and he is the one to whom we are accountable.