Garry spoke tonight on the theme ‘Follow Your Heart.’ This is definitely the world’s mantra, urging people to do whatever makes them happy and following wherever the heart takes them. The problem is that our hearts can mislead us; as Jeremiah reminded us, ‘the heart is hopelessly dark and deceitful, a puzzle that no one can figure out.’ (Jer 17:9) Solomon, one of the richest men in the world who could presumably have anything he wanted, discovered that such things did not ultimately satisfy him (Eccl 2:10-11).
It can be difficult to know our own hearts, but God weighs the heart; He knows us through and through (see Prov 21:2). He is the ultimate arbiter of what is right and wrong. Deut 4:9 urges us to guard our hearts and remember what God has done; if we do not, it’s amazing how quickly God’s many wondrous acts fade from our memories.
Matt 6:21 reminds us that where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. If we have wrong values, we will end up going in the wrong direction and harming ourselves and others. Our hearts become calloused, desensitised and then it’s dangerous to follow our heart.
What we need is a new heart, a pure heart (see Ps 51:10). God has promised to do this (Ezek 36:26) He is able to restore and renew us, illuminating our hearts, giving us new values and new desires. He gives light to the eyes of our heart (Eph 1:18), enabling us to follow God who has then promised to give us the desires of our hearts. (Ps 37:4)
