I'm a logical, rational person. I make decisions with my mind. I distrust my emotions. After all, the heart is wicked, isn't it? "Follow your heart", "listen to your heart", all new age philosophies that will lead us astray, because our deceitful heart can't be trusted.
My mind, on the other hand, logic- that can be trusted.
Recently though, mind and heart came into conflict about something, and I found myself wondering if I could always trust my rational mind. Maybe it could lead me astray too. And maybe my heart wasn't so far off base after all. So, I decided to see what the Bible actually says.
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" Jeremiah 17:9 (KJV)
Sounds clear enough. The heart is deceitful and wicked. Case closed.
Until I opened a concordance with word definitions. The word translated heart in this verse, הַלֵּ֛ב (lev), is most commonly translated heart. But, it can also be translated as mind, will, or intellect. Apparently, the modern Western division of the heart as the seat of the emotions and the mind as the seat of the intellect isn't quite the same as ancient Hebrew thought. It seems like "inner man" (the first definition given of the word) might be more accurate. Or, in our trichotomous understanding of humanity, the soul.
So, it's not just my heart or emotions that are deceitful. It's my entire inner-being. My feelings AND my thoughts.
And then there's that little phrase "desperately wicked". That's some strong language. And a completely off base translation. King James is one of the few translations that chose the word wicked there. Every other time it occurs, it is translated as sick or incurable. There's a pretty big difference between sick and wicked.
So, it seems to me that my original understanding of this verse is completely inaccurate.
In reality, I have a desperately sick, deceitful inner-being. Everything that makes me me, is incurably warped by the fall.
Except, it isn't incurable. There's redemption.
And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)
Guess what word is translated heart in this passage? That's right, lev, the same as in Jeremiah. God promised his people a new heart. A heart of flesh. He will renew our inner-being.
That same promise is reiterated in the New Testament.
Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. (2 Corinthians 5:17)
My heart has been renewed. I am a new creation. I still struggle with sin, yes. But, my heart is not desperately wicked, or even incurably sick. The great physician has made all things new.
I'm not suggesting that we all go and do "whatever our heart desires". Emotions are fickle, affected by externals. But neither is it fair to say mind=good, emotions=bad. God has given us a heart and mind, both of which need to be submitted to Christ's lordship, and both of which he can use to guide us. My heart is not the enemy within. It's more like a friend whose counsel I would listen to and weigh along with everything else I was taking into consideration.
Delight yourself in the LORD, and he will give you the desires of your heart. Psalm 37:4
1 comment:
love this!
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