The heart of man

Peter Jeffery
© Day One Publications, www.dayone.co.uk, used with permission

The specialist in hospital told me that my heart was in a serious condition. How did he know? Firstly, he was guided by the symptoms—pain, tightening of the chest, breathlessness and an inability to do ordinary things. Many people suffer from heart trouble today and will recognize these symptoms, but thankfully most people do not suffer in this way.

But God says that we all have a serious heart condition, and in the Bible he describes the symptoms:

‘The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?’

‘For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man “unclean”.’

Our sins are the evidence of our heart condition. Sin always brings pain; it appears to be enjoyable but always ends in unhappiness. Sin brings breathlessness, an absence of the life-giving breath of the Holy Spirit. Sin makes us unable to do the things we were created for—loving and serving God.

Do you have these symptoms?

If you were told by a heart specialist that you had a serious heart condition, you’d be a fool to ignore it. What is your reaction to God’s diagnosis of your heart? Do you take it seriously? Are you anxious for a cure?

Having considered my symptoms, the doctor then examined my heart more closely. He was able to show me my own heart on a TV screen and point out to me what was wrong and what needed to be done.

God shows us our heart. He knows the exact condition it’s in. Often we may look OK on the outside—morally and socially we are very acceptable—but how does God see us? He often speaks in the Bible about the heart of man. There we read that the apostle Peter told a respectable man that in God’s sight his heart was not right. The same is true of us all.

What causes heart trouble?

The heart specialist will list things like smoking, wrong diet and lack of exercise as the main culprits. But spiritually, our heart problems are caused by sin: a rejection of God’s ways.

So what is the remedy for all this?

The consultant told me that the only answer was surgery. My problem was a blockage of the arteries. This had to be dealt with to allow the blood to do its job of taking oxygen to my heart. Therefore, I needed a bypass operation. This involves the surgeon taking a vein from the leg and using this to bypass the blockage in the artery, allowing a full flow of life-giving blood.

This was the only answer to my heart problem. And the only answer to the spiritual need of all our hearts is for the blood of Jesus Christ to do its work of bringing forgiveness and life. What Jesus did for us on the cross is the only thing that can make sinners clean in God’s sight.

Our problem is sin. It pollutes the heart and makes us unacceptable to God.

But Jesus came into the world to deal with sin.

He did this once and for all on the cross, by taking the punishment our sins deserved. He died in our place. That’s why the Bible speaks of salvation through his blood. Morality, religion and education will not cure our heart condition. The only answer acceptable to God is Jesus.

The greatest heart specialist, God himself, has diagnosed the condition of your heart.

It is serious.
It is fatal.
It is terminal.
You need a new heart.

God does not do bypass operations, His surgery is much more radical.

According to the Bible he takes away the stony heart—the one that is blocked, hard and unresponsive to God—and gives a new one!

God will give this to you when you turn away from your sin and trust with your whole being in the Lord Jesus.