Thinking of the heart as a container, like a bucket, from which all things flow, the words of Jeremiah regarding the state of the unregenerated heart is somewhat chilling; "...deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?" (17:9). The Christian is not immune from this affliction. If we performed an honest self-evaluation, we would probably find in our buckets, traces of bitterness, conceit, unforgiveness, pride, anger, jealousy, self-pity, envy, among other things. Some of these may have been in there for years, yet on the outside, we put on a spiritual face that mask our inner realities.
David came face to face with an important truth when he declared, "If I regard iniquity in my heart, the Lord will not hear me" (Psalm 66:18). Some have abused this verse in thinking that as long as they do not voice what is in their hearts, then God cannot hear (know) it. Of course, that is not what David meant. Sins of the heart are known by God. The important truth, according to Bible Commentator Matthew Henry, is that "iniquity, regarded in the heart, will certainly spoil the comfort and success of prayer." It doesn't matter how much we wrap ourselves in spiritual clichés, or how much of a righteous face we show to others, it is an undeniably truth that God knows what's in our buckets, and it is He who declares it acceptable or not. It is not by chance that God would have Jeremiah use the word "deceitful" to describe the heart, suggesting the need for constant vigilance to root out those things that are blockages to spiritual progress. The Proverbs provide us with the warning, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life" (4:23).
In what must have been a moment of reflection, David prayed, "Search me, O God, and know my heart: try me, and know my thoughts: And see if there be any wicked way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:22, 23). He had previously declared, "One thing have I desired of the LORD, that will I seek after; that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to behold the beauty of the LORD, and to enquire in his temple" (Psalm 27:4). I believe he knew that achieving intimacy with God required transparency. His most earnest desire to seek after the things of God was so great that he was willing to have God examine his bucket! How about you? What is your most earnest desire? What's in your bucket?
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