Horrendous Advice

“For out of the heart come evil thoughts – murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander” (Matthew 15:19).

Daughter: “Daddy, should I marry him?”
Dad:”What does your heart say?”

Son: “Mom, should I take this job?”
Mom: “What does your heart say?”

Do what your heart says…

Gee.

Horrendous advice. The heart is a terrible guide. Listen to what Jesus says about the heart. The heart is the originator of murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. There is nothing good about any of these things. These are terrible things.

And, yet, it gets worse.

You see, the New Testament didn’t have the linguistic tool, “etc.” In order to specify etcetera, the Greeks would list similar words together. It was assumed by the reader that the listing of similar things implied that the list goes on with other similar things.

So, imagine everything bad. Everything sinful. Everything terrible. Everything that destroys.

That’s the heart. The heart is the author and the generator of all such evil. So, do you really think it would be a good idea for anyone to do what their heart tells them to do?

Absolutely not. Lean on God. Trust God’s word. Obey him.