Beyond A Cure

Jeremiah 17:9,10

The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it? “I, the Lord search the heart…”

Did Jesus declare that the Old Testament was wrong and not culturally relevant? He seemed to be kicking against the system when He healed the sick on a Sabbath, a day that was commanded to be a day of rest. He was accused of doing unlawful work when work was forbidden. Does that mean He was denouncing God's Law?

In our verse for today, the prophet Jeremiah wrote during a time where the Jewish people had forgotten God and their trust in Him. God accused them of violating His commandments regarding the Sabbath. The Ten Commandments instructed them to refrain from work on the seventh day and worship Him as a way of resting and honoring Him. Not only were the people of Jeremiah's day continuing to work, they were also turning to detestable idols and mixing their Hebrew practices with those of pagan nations around them.

By violating His commands, Israel demonstrated they were trusting in the efforts of others for their success and provision, rather than God. By the time Jesus was teaching, the religious leaders had created a legalistic system that was piled high with rules holding the people under an oppressive way of requiring outward compliance to hundreds of laws to keep them in line. Inside, these pharisees were puffed up with pride at how good they were at being religious and how fervently they were demanding obedience from the people. They were seeking the praises of men and Jesus saw through it.

Instead, He rebuked them for their legalism because He knew what God was after. God searches our hearts and knows that we are given to pride, easily deceived and willing to deceive others. He is always after our hearts rather than just outward compliance for the sake of appearance. He will even engineer trials in your life to expose the condition of your heart and show you what you are really like inside.

Just when you think you are such a good person, He exposes the sickness and corruption that lies within. When you see yourself for who you really are, that your heart is full of pride and beyond curing by man-made rules or philosophies, you will come to Him with a repentant attitude and say, like David, “create in me a clean heart, oh God, and renew a right spirit within me.” This is the beginning of a life that He can transform to make you more like Him.