For our culture today, Jeremiah 17:9 is one of the most controversial verses in the Bible. One of our most cherished values is to be true to yourself. “You do you.” The idea is that somewhere deep inside us there’s a pure self, and we should always follow and express our deepest desires that spring from this true self.
Our heart should guide our relationships and our career decisions. Our lifestyle should be a reflection of our inner self. That’s a true, authentic life, and that’s what will make us happy.
But Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?”
The Stakes
Our culture tells us to follow our heart because it believes at bottom, our heart is good. We may sometimes be tempted to do the wrong thing, but at our core, we’re basically good people. We live best when we’re true to ourselves because our hearts will lead us in the right direction.
And that’s all fine if it’s true. It sounds good. It sounds like a positive, self-empowering message. But there’s a lot at stake.
What if it’s not true? What if my heart is actually sick?
If I spend my life following my heart and it turns out my heart has been wrong the whole time, that’s going to cause a lot of problems, both for me and for everyone around me. If my heart is actually what’s causing me and others harm, then I need to recognize that as soon as possible.
Last week I was heading home, but I accidentally got on the wrong subway. I wasn’t really paying attention. I was answering emails and messages on my phone. Now thankfully when we got to the next stop, I realized this, so I got off and got on to a train heading in the right direction.
But imagine I didn’t realize this. Or imagine that I wasn’t just heading in the wrong direction. Imagine the train was also deceitful. Imagine that at each stop, the announcements tell me that I’m heading in the right direction, and it’s not until I’m at the end of the line and exit the train that I realize that all along I was headed in the wrong direction.
Jeremiah 17 confronts us with a question, and our entire lives and indeed all of eternity is at stake. Do you trust in your heart, or do you trust in the Lord?
Written on the Tablet of Your Heart
In Jeremiah, God’s people had chosen the former. God says, “The sin of Judah . . . is engraved on the tablet of their heart” (Jeremiah 17:1). The mention of “tablet” would have reminded the Israelites of the ten commandments, which God wrote on tablets of stone. God’s people were meant to internalize those commandments, so that it was as if they were written not just on stone, but on the tablets of their very heart.
God told them, “Treasure up my commandments with you; keep my commandments and live; keep my teaching as the apple of your eye; bind them on your fingers; write them on the tablet of your heart” (Proverbs 7:1–3).
We’re meant to be so formed by God’s commandments that it’s as if they’re written on our hearts. They should guide our every thought and decision. But just like the ancient Israelites, our hearts are pulled in other directions.
God commands us to be kind to others, but my heart tells me to be impatient. God’s word instructs us to work for his glory and the good of others, but my heart tells me to be prideful and think only about my own wellbeing.
Instead of trusting in God’s ways, we’re tempted to trust in our own ways or in what we see everyone around us doing. Rather than delighting in God’s ways, we consider them burdensome or out of touch.
Don’t Follow Your Heart
Our culture tells us that our heart is basically good, and the best thing for ourselves and for society is to be true to ourselves. But if we’re honest with ourselves, we know our heart isn’t always in the right place. We know there’s sin deep in our hearts and that if we were true to ourselves, we would cause tremendous harm to ourselves and to others.
When my heart tells me to gossip about someone so I can be included in the “in group”, that doesn’t make the world a better place. I make the world a better place when I instead am willing to be shamed rather than put another person down.
When a coworker offends me and my heart tells me to be angry or bitter, that doesn’t make the world a better place. I make the world a better place when I forsake my heart and follow God’s command to love even my enemy and to pray for those who persecute me (Matthew 5:43-44). That’s not authentic to my heart. But it’s good.
Far from being something we should follow indisputably, our hearts are sick and need to be healed and transformed. Your heart can’t be trusted. It will lead you astray. Don’t follow your heart. Go to the one who can heal and transform it.
When you’re trying to make a decision about a relationship or how to respond to a conflict at work, don’t follow your heart. Trust in the Lord with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding (Proverbs 3:1-8).
When there’s a conflict between what you want to do and what you know God commands you to do, don’t follow your heart. Treasure God’s commandments in your heart, and strive to walk in his ways.
Don’t question God’s ways. Question your heart. Don’t submit to the desires of your heart. Submit your heart to God.
But all this is much easier said than done. Even the apostle Paul talked about his intense inner struggle to follow God’s law rather than his sinful heart. We need someone to deliver us from this “body of death” (Romans 7:24).
Two Divergent Destinies
Our choice to trust in our heart or trust in the Lord has ramifications not only for this life, but also for the next. If we believe our heart is healthy and good and choose to trust in ourselves, then we’ll be like a shrub in the desert, lifeless and cursed (Jeremiah 17:5-6). But if we trust in God, forsake our wicked heart, and turn to “the fountain of living water,” we will never thirst (Jeremiah 17:13).
Following your heart doesn’t lead to happiness. Following your heart leads to joylessness. It’s deceitful, like a night of drunkenness—happy for a time, but then comes the hangover. Lasting joy is found only in trusting in the fountain of living water.
Jesus Christ is that fountain of living water (John 4:14). He bore the curse our sinful hearts deserve, so that we might pass safely through the judgment of God. And in our baptism, we’re raised to new life with him (Romans 6:4). Instead of our sin being engraved on our hearts, the Holy Spirit writes his law upon our hearts (Jeremiah 31:31-34). Our hearts are transformed, as God’s Spirit grows our faith, love, and obedience to him.
Don’t trust in your heart. Trust in the Lord with all your heart. Don’t be true to yourself. Be true to the Lord. Your heart is desperately sick. Go to the one who can heal and transform it. Trust in him. Pray the prayer of Jeremiah: “Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed; save me, and I shall be saved, for you are my praise” (Jeremiah 17:14).
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