IT BEGINS IN THE HEART
“He went on: “It’s what comes out of a person that pollutes: obscenities, lusts, thefts, murders, adulteries, greed, depravity, deceptive dealings, carousing, mean looks, slander, arrogance, foolishness—all these are vomit from the heart. There is the source of your pollution.” Mark 7:20-23 MSG
Scripture warns us time and again about the deceitfulness of the heart. A man’s heart is the seat of reason and emotion; when it is not pure, what comes from it cannot be hidden long.
That is why the wisest thing to do is to yield our hearts to our Savior, and take heed not to abide in secrecy or harbor any thoughts and feelings that work against the leading of the Spirit. Our Lord makes it plain that sin is not first a behavioral issue but a heart issue.
We may manage appearances, discipline habits, or restrain actions, yet if the root remains untouched, the fruit will eventually betray us. What flows from us reveals what rules within us. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked; who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9).
If left unexamined, the heart will excuse what God condemns. But thankfully, the gospel does not leave us there. Through Christ, we are not merely corrected, we are renewed. The Spirit searches, convicts, and transforms, forming in us a new affection that produces holy fruit.
Therefore child of God, we must daily surrender the hidden places to Him, for when the heart is guarded by grace, the life will reflect His holiness. Hallelujah!
Prayer: My Father, I thank you for this counsel. You are the one that sees what no one else can see, and as our fathers long prayed, search my heart and expose what is not of you. Cleanse what is corrupt, purify my desires, and align my affections with your will. Let what flows from my life be evidence of a heart transformed by your grace. In Jesus’ name, Amen.
CI.
RELATED RESOURCES
• Luke 6:45
• Genesis 6:5
• Hebrews 4:12
