Feelings (3-23-12)

Jeremiah 17:9 - "The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?"

It's common to hear people talking about acting according to your feelings, or doing what your heart tells you, but this is a very dangerous thing. The Scripture plainly says that "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked." The human race acts on instinct. The world tells you that if you want something you need to get it. You need to follow your feelings because that's the only standard we know of. However, the Bible has something different to say about that. The Lord tells us through Jeremiah that the heart is deceitful and wicked, and Jesus said in Mark 7:21-22 - "For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed the evil thoughts, fornications, thefts, murders, adulteries, deeds of coveting and wickedness, as well as deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride and foolishness." Does this sound like something we want people to pursue? If we trust in our feelings it will lead surely to disaster, because our feelings are deceptive and cannot be trusted.
A good example of this is found in Genesis chapter 27. In this chapter we're given the account of something that happened in the life of Isaac when he was very old. His eyes were failing and he thought that he was close to death, so he called his favorite son, his first born son Esau in order that he might bless him. He sent him out to hunt and prepare a meal for him and said that after he had eaten he would bless him. Well, you know the story, Rebekah, Isaac's wife, overheard this and called her favorite son, Jacob, and disguised him in order that he would get the blessing of the firstborn. So we read this in Genesis 27:18-23 - "Then he came to his father and said, “My father.” And he said, “Here I am. Who are you, my son?” Jacob said to his father, “I am Esau your firstborn; I have done as you told me. Get up, please, sit and eat of my game, that you may bless me.” Isaac said to his son, “How is it that you have it so quickly, my son?” And he said, “Because the LORD your God caused it to happen to me.” Then Isaac said to Jacob, “Please come close, that I may feel you, my son, whether you are really my son Esau or not.” So Jacob came close to Isaac his father, and he felt him and said, “The voice is the voice of Jacob, but the hands are the hands of Esau.” He did not recognize him, because his hands were hairy like his brother Esau’s hands; so he blessed him." Isaac trusted his feelings above what he heard, and we often do the same thing. We have the Bible, Gods written Word, and the Word is very clear and worthy of our complete trust. But so often, rather than believing what we hear in Gods Word we act based on what we feel. God didn't put these verses in here for no reason. He knows our tendency to trust in our feelings, so He tells us emphatically that the heart is deceitful above all things. And that word "All" in the original Hebrew actually means "all, the whole of, any, each, every, anything, totality, everything." God doesn't want you to trust in or follow your feelings which are deceptive and change. He want's you to rely completely on and follow Him and His Word which never changes. Wisdom is acting in accordance with Gods Word despite how I feel.

Proverbs 28:26 - "He who trusts in his own heart is a fool, But he who walks wisely will be delivered."