Jeremiah 17:5-14

The human mind is more deceitful than anything else. It is incurably bad. Who can understand it? Jeremiah 19:9 New English Translation

Every other translation I checked said that it was the heart, not the mind that was so deceitful. But even those translations go on in verse 10 to say that the Lord searches the mind and tries the heart.  I believe it is safe to say that our hearts and minds are both deeply connected and  infected. Looking at this passage we see God’s problem; those created in his image have an incurable (at least at the time of this statement) habit of trusting in their own human strength and that of others. To God, this constitutes turning away from him.  Our commitment to our independence from God carries with it a potent curse.

Trusting in the flesh leaves us in a fog. Even the good things we have been given go unappreciated. Those trusting in their flesh are like plants with no root system. Isn’t this the essence of the heart that Jeremiah finds so incomprehensible – its propensity to leave God out of the equation (and such a high cost)? But there is hope;

My blessing is on those people who trust in me, who put their confidence in me. They will be like a tree planted near a stream whose roots spread out toward the water. It has nothing to fear when the heat comes. Its leaves are always green. It has no need to be concerned in a year of drought. It does not stop bearing fruit.

When the Lord searches the mind and tests the heart its not because he doesn’t know whats there. He takes us through this process so we will hopefully see and take responsibility for our misplaced trust (aka; repentence), those places where we are trusting in our flesh or that of others.

The scriptures tell us that a young man rejoices in his strength. Although its progressively hazy, I do recall that season of flexing. No doubt I am holding on to shreds of it still.  But this I know; there is far less cause for rejoicing at 62 than there was at 32. It was not only my physical strength I rejoiced in as a younger man; it was also in my wits which I used to think things through and my will with which I got things done. The flesh is self-reliant. It has that I-can-do-it-myself quality about it (especially in religion). It is independent and proud while at the same time terribly insecure, always trying to establish its identity, asserting its importance and vying for territory which it can claim as its own. As sentinels we vigilantly and foolishly protect that which must die from death thus perpetuation the curse.

It is my experience in following Christ that his searching and testing methods permit the moths and rust to have their way with my fleshly agendas however hallowed I may have deemed them.  At times (most all of it frankly) the process has seemed utterly cruel but over 37 years I have seen his wisdom in it. Had I not been in school with Christ, my delusions would have been perpetuated regarding my own strength; I would have missed the prize which is God himself. He wanted to spare me from competing for worldly trophies (some of which I might have even won) so that I could gain Christ alone and learn to be content in Him regardless of my circumstances. 

The process looks like Jacob and God wrestling where he lets us exhaust ourselves so that after the final round we leave with our flesh and human strength disabled (hopefully crucified with Him) as a memorial to the test. As these heart and mind-tests of discipleship play out it is likely that others will not see or appreciate the process of transformation we are in.  It may seem as though God is out to get us and indeed He is, but for reasons we don’t yet quite fathom. His ways and means are too high; we cannot attain to them.

Father, your ways are, in certain seasons, painfully higher than our ways. Grant us perseverence  to endure the tests that we might gain the prize. Purge the deceit from our hearts that we may be at peace and rest in you and within ourselves. Produce in us hearts and minds that are secure in their identities, free from the strife of our flesh, hearts that are satisfied in you alone. Help us to watch over our hearts with all diligence that the living water can overflow. Amen.