Estimated reading time: 10 minute(s)

This is an article I wrote a couple days ago… when thinking about issues I have been blogging about in recent days… it is… interesting to say the least. It is 4 pages long. So… just wanted to warn you. Please don’t be scared off. 🙂 I don’t usually write that much at once. Lots going on these days…

Anyway… without further adieu (or however that is spelled…)

The Heart

The Power Of The Heart

---

Proverbs 4:23 says “Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” We don’t often say the word “wellspring” but I think we get the general gist… The proverberator (is that a word?) is saying that we are what is in our heart. Jesus said that too… he said, “for out of the heart come evil thoughts…” (Matt 5:19) and he revisits that idea several other times. Like, “Where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” (Luke 12:34). Our heart is who we are and affects us more than we tend to give it credit for.

We like to pretend to be logical, smart, planning, thinking, and got-it-together sort of folks. We study scripture, we know what we’re supposed to do, how we’re supposed to live… and we are good at it. To a point. For a while. But then, things get a bit twisted. We start to have discussions with ourselves…what we thought we knew, we begin to question… we begin to rationalize…excuse. And before you know it… our heart has picked up us and dragged us away. To a place we did not want to (or think we would) be.

None of us is too far from that place. The place of irrationality. The place of emotional reasoning that is contrary to where God wants us to be. We are sinners. Every last one of us. The Bible tells me so. (Rom 3:23) (If you meet someone who thinks they are not… they are mighty confused…their heart has a good grip on them…) Each one of us can be easily tricked, easily led by our heart to a place we do not want to go. Remember that the next time you are looking down on someone (especially a Christian brother/sister) for their poor choices.

Jesus mentioned that as well, when he said, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matt 7:3) He says in another place, “…first take the plank out of your eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” (Luke 6:42) He does not say we should not help each other when we see someone caught up by their heart… he says, don’t forget about YOUR heart problem.

Dealing With Heart Problems

---

So what do we do with this? What shall we do with our heart that carries us off and so easily tricks us? How can we be saved? Actually, Paul used those very words in Romans 7 – one of my favorite pictures of God’s grace working in a Jesus follower’s life – “Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Rom 7:24-25) He was lamenting the war that is constantly raging inside of him… doing what he doesn’t want to and not doing what he wants to… and the conclusion is… “I am SO glad I don’t have to worry about it!!!” God’s grace is the answer. His grace is sufficient.

So, what… do we just go on sinning, living whichever way we want? “There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.” (Prov 14:12, 16:25) The Proverberator (I think I like that…) J thought that was so important, he said it twice! We may convince ourselves (or rather, be convinced by our hearts) that we are OK, and proceeding in an OK direction… but God says if you go off the path of what I say is best… it only leads to death. I am of the opinion that God’s grace covers our eternal soul in this case… (as there is no sin that Jesus death did not cover – Heb 7:27 and many more in Hebrews) but there is wisdom and life in doing life the way God has laid out for us.

“I run in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free” (Psa. 119:32)

“Blessed is the man… (whose) delight is in the law of the Lord…Whatever he does prospers.” (Psa. 1:1-3)

“But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.” (Matt 7:14)

The Narrow Road

---

Ahh, the “Narrow Road”. Oft used to proclaim Christianity’s hold on the stairway to heaven…but not necessarily dealing strictly with salvation. It is quite clear in scripture (including ones I have already mentioned here) that Jesus is God’s sacrifice for EVERYONE’s sin. So, he is THE ONLY way to be reconciled to God. But so often we focus on the eternal nature of salvation and not the current and daily aspect of it. Jesus said, “I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full.” (John 10:10) And elsewhere it says, “And this is eternal life, to know you the One True God and Jesus Christ whom You sent.” (John 17:3) We talk about Christianity as a relationship, not a religion… but I think we too often treat it as the latter. Working our way daily to a favorable standing with God. Trying hard to achieve righteousness on our own. Thinking that perhaps if we give a little extra effort, that just may be possible. Paul said, “If righteousness could be gained through the law, then Christ died for nothing!” (Gal 2:21) We are all aware of that salvifically (ooooo… big seminary word from the Bible College grad!!! J Means, regarding eternal salvation.) but we do not live it in our daily lives. We strive for a perfection that is not attainable.

And, unfortunately, some of us hold others to that unattainable goal as well.

The Path Runner

---

Look at the Psalms quoted above again. One of my favorite pictures in scripture is Psalm 119:32. I RUN in the path of your commands, for you have set my heart free! My picture is of a man in those short runners shorts and a tank top with the racer’s number plastered on his chest and on his back. (So, LOTS of skin showing.) Water bottle in hand, sometimes refreshing his dry throat, sometimes refreshing his sweaty face. And on either side of him, a HUGE wall of thorn bushes. Nasty, prickly, and completely dominating his view on everyside… except straight ahead. The path is smooth and easy to tread… but narrow. And immediately to either side are the thorn bushes, and where those are not, there are huge ankle-spraining holes. And where those are not, there are venomous snakes, blending in to the surrounding dust. As his eyes remain straight ahead, he is not at ALL tempted to step off the path… and he just RUNS as fast as he can.

Most of the other runners have already gotten themselves tangled in the bushes, or crippled by an ankle-spraining hole, or even killed by the bite of the venomous snakes. But this guy keeps going. Looking straight ahead and running hard in the way he knows he should go.

But occasionally, his tired mind and body want to stop. They want to rest. Some of those breaks in the bushes seem navigable. “I bet… if I am careful… I could avoid that stuff…” he begins to convince himself. And, funny thing is, as he keeps entertaining this thought… the holes seem to be getting less deep. Even the bushes are shrinking. But… he keeps running.

“I really am tired, and this seems like a good place to stop.” He scans the almost totally clear area for a good place for a break, and thinks to himself, “I bet those stories of venomous snakes are just exaggerated stories misinterpreted through many fanciful stories told around campfires! I could certainly SEE them if they were really here!” And now, with almost no obstacles in sight… he steps off the path for a break.

“Wow! This feels great!” the resting runner proclaims. “What was I ever worried about?” And he continues to enjoy the rest as others pass him by on the Narrow Path. “I’ll catch up to them eventually,” he reassures himself.

But what he does not see, that the other passers by see quite clearly, is that he is not sitting on the relaxing, flat, care-free ground he thinks he inhabits… he in fact is RIGHT in the middle of a thorn bush. Twisted and caught… but with a smile on his face! The Path Runners stop and ask if they can help… but there is no response from the man in the thorns. He doesn’t even seem to hear them. So they continue on, asking the Path Maker to help him.

After a relaxing restful experience… the runner begins to notice a strange itching sensation. More than an itch… almost painful. “Where is that COMING from?” he wonders. “Why am I SO itchy?!?” As he scratches, the thorns dig deeper into his flesh. Causing more pain.

Soon, a couple Path Runners stop and ask him if they can help. “What? Help me with what?” he asks, puzzled. Then they ask him if he is aware that he is caught in a thorn bush. “WHAT!?? What are you TALKING about?” He looks around and sees the flat ground around him… and his trusty water bottle… “Are you serious??? The thorn bushes are back there! It’s flat ground right here… so I thought it would be safe to step of the Path for a break.”

The Path Runners look concerned… and they try quite intensely to convince the thorn-stuck runner that he is in fact caught in a thorn bush and in a good bit of danger. He will have none of it, and sends them on their way. They reluctantly leave, and ask the Path Maker to open the ThornDweller’s eyes.

After such a strange experience as that, the runner thought it was about time to get up and catch his competition. “What were they ON??? It’s so flat here, I can’t even see the PATH! Thorn bushes my…” The ground beneath his feet truly did have a homogeneous appearance… blending the path into the surrounding area… but he was pretty sure of which direction he needed to go… and he began jogging at a rapid pace to catch up to his competitors.

He ran, and ran, and ran… “Why have I not caught anyone yet? Where are they?” he pondered. And he thought of those two Path Runners who so vehemently attempted to convince him that he was stuck in a thorn bush! Their certainty perplexed him. “Where ARE those thorn bushses anyway?”

After a long time had passed of running straight ahead on the pathless ground… he came upon another group of Path Runners. They too were convinced that he was stuck in a thorn bush, and they added the juicy nugget of a venomous snake poised and ready to strike his left wrist.

“OK guys… this has gone a bit too far. I would really like it if you would all just leave me alone. PLEASE. I do not know WHAT you are talking about… I do not see the thorns. I do not see the snake. My path looks clear to me!”

They pleaded with him… and some were angry. Even calling the ThornDweller names. But he would not budge. He did not see any thorns, and so he finally outlasted their persistent pestering and they left him alone, asking the Path Maker to rescue him from the venomous snake.

“Were they really right?” he thought, “Am I stuck in thorns, and just can’t see it? I have always been on the Narrow Path, and I am trying my best to run it now! I just can’t really see it… but I know it’s this way.” And he turned and began again in the same direction.

All of a sudden… there was a crippling pain in his wrist. “WHAT was THAT?!!” He looked down and saw two red marks on his left wrist. “WHERE did that come from???” He winced in pain and to his amazement… he saw a venomous snake slither away in the dirt. And as he tried to tend to his wound, which throbbed with increasing pain, he began to notice other scratches on his body. “Where did those come from?” he thought.

As the painful moments passed… he began to notice even further startling appearances. All around him, thorn bushes began to crop up… slowly at first, and then increasingly violently – as though they were actually alive! Twisting and grabbing at him and catching him up in their painful grasp. All at once, as he began to lose consciousness… he saw that he in fact was quite clearly caught in a thorn bush.

The Path Runners who saw the ThornDweller who succumbed to the venomous snake paused for a moment to reflect on the painfully obvious fact that with only a few poorly chosen steps off of the Path, that could be them. They thanked the Path Maker for the clear Path, and for his Direction and asked him to continue to protect them from the perils along the Path.

And they continued to run – free-hearted – on the Narrow Path.

---

Now, I made that up. But, do you see the power of the heart? It can convince us of things that are just not true. It can blind us to things that we know are lies. It can carry us off to a place we know we should not be. Our heart can not keep us from salvation. No sin is greater than Grace. But it can choke the life out of us. And keep us from the Life the Path Maker intended.

So, please… Stay on the path.