Proverbs 3.5-8
“Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not lean on your own understanding. In all your ways acknowledge him, and he will make straight your paths. Be not wise in your own eyes; fear the Lord, and turn away from evil. It will be healing to your flesh and refreshment to your bones.”
We are living in an era of the imperial self. People have always been self-centered, but it has become socially normative to be radically self-centered. Many believe they have the mandate to create their own “truth” and to establish their own standards of right and wrong.
To cite just one example, American culture has devolved to the place where it is legal to kill unborn children in the womb of their mothers. The Supreme Court legalized abortion in 1973 via the Roe v Wade decision, and since that time there have been more than 40 million abortions in the US. Think about that for a moment. Our nation has sanctioned the killing of 40 million innocent children.
The rationale is that a woman’s right to “control her own body” takes precedence over a baby’s right to life. How is it possible in a modern, respectable society for a decision like this to be made and mandated? Where does the rationale to legalize the killing of unborn babies come from? The answer is the failure to obey the command of Proverbs 3: “Trust in the Lord with all your heart, and do not learn on your own understanding … Be not wise in your own eyes.”
This was the problem in Israel in the time of the prophets. The leaders of Israel turned away from the covenant with the Lord and embraced false gods. They rejected God’s standards and lived by their own standards.
The prophet Jeremiah warned the leaders and people of Judah to repent of their self-centeredness. Like Solomon, Jeremiah told the people of Judah to trust God, not self. He warned that those who trust in self will not prosper:
“Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord. He is like a shrub in the desert, and shall not see any good come. He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.” (Jeremiah 17.5-6)
Jeremiah said that those who trust in the Lord will be blessed:
“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord. He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.” (Jeremiah 17.7-8)
Jeremiah then gives an extremely important warning: Be careful about “following your heart,” because the heart can be very selfish. “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17.9)
The human heart was damaged at the fall, and it has selfish and deceitful tendencies. The unredeemed cannot be trusted. In order to operate as the Lord intends, our hearts must be redeemed and regenerated by Christ. In other words, do not trust in your own insight. Don’t be wise in your own eyes. Don’t believe everything you think.
What is truth and where does it come from?
By what standards do you live and work?
What reference points do you use for right and wrong?
These are the most important questions of our time. How you answer has eternal consequences.
“I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17.9-10)
