Re-Aligning My Heart
Jeremiah 11:1-17
Is your heart “in alignment” this morning? Is your heart “out of sync?”
I need to re-align my heart.
Example: Alignment on your car
My van has alignment problems. I can tell because when I drive my van and let go of the wheel it starts to veer to the right. Last week, I was getting ready to take the kids to the library when I noticed that the van had a flat tire. So, I took it to Wal-Mart to replace the tire. You know, that fixed the alignment problem for awhile. But in order for my van to work properly, I can’t just fix the tire. I have to fix the alignment. I have to fix the part of the vehicle that keeps the vehicle running straight.
The same is true with my heart. But there is a problem. I have been “changed,” my heart has been replaced. My heart can easily get “out of alignment.”
How do I know this? The Bible tells me this:
Yet they would not obey or pay attention; each one followed the stubbornness of his evil heart. So I brought on them all the curses of this covenant, because they had not done what I commanded them to do."
(Jeremiah 11:8 HCSB)
The heart is more deceitful than anything else and desperately sick--who can understand it?
(Jeremiah 17:9 HCSB)
My heart can get me into TROUBLE.
There are two problems with the heart:
My heart was broken before I came to Christ
Before I came to Jesus Christ, my heart decided to do whatever it wanted. Everytime I followed my heart, it got me into trouble. It had three characteristics that showed me that my heart could not be trusted:
It is foolish
The world says to follow your heart. The problem is that I may chase whatever “feels” right at the moment, whether it is actually right or not.
The one who trusts in himself is a fool, but one who walks in wisdom will be safe.
(Proverbs 28:26 HCSB)
It is unreliable
Feelings and emotions are shallow, fickle, and unreliable. They change depending upon the circumstances. What feels right in the height of emotion often feels like a sour mistake a few years later. This selfish philosophy is the source of countless divorces. Many people decide to excuse themselves from life-long commitments because they no longer “feel in love.”
It is corrupt
The truth is, our hearts are basically selfish and sinful.
For from the heart come evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immoralities, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies.
(Matthew 15:19 HCSB)
As a Christian, sometimes I want to go back to my broken heart.
The heart is the seat of the “ego.” If you have ever heard of Sigmund Freud, he suggested that our wills are made up of three parts:
The id
The ego
The super-ego
He suggested that the ego is the “peacemaker” between the “id” and the “super-ego.” The “id’ controlled your passions, your primal, uncontrollable desires. Your super-ego drove you to do things perfectly and when you couldn’t you would have feelings of guilt. The super-ego punishes the misbehavior of the id. The ego is the mediator in between making those decisions.
We know that while the ego is in the mind, and the heart was considered the seat of emotions in the Bible. Our ego, which is the will in the mind, can actually be used to lead our heart. People do it two different ways:
Some people use their ego to Edge God Out.
EGO – Edge God Out
They lead a life just like these Israelites at this time. They have “stubborn hearts” which are only interested in what they want.
They have returned to the sins of their ancestors who refused to obey My words and have followed other gods to worship them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah broke My covenant I made with their ancestors.
(Jeremiah 11:10 HCSB)
Our hearts have become out of tune. Because we have “edged God out,” we have returned to the sins that we enjoyed before we became a Christian. We may “say” that we are a Christian, but we don’t “live” like one.
We got baptized, saying that we wanted to follow Christ, but then we got off-course. We “edged God out” of our lives.
By returning to the sins of my ancestors, I try to re-live my past mistakes and sins. I re-visit my old habits and ideas that get me into trouble. Why do I do that?
Because it is a whole lot easier to replace my tire, than to fix my alignment. But I still have not solved my underlying problem – my ego, my stubborn heart.
So what can I do about it:
I have to learn the right way to LEAD my HEART.
EGO – Exalt God Only
I made a commitment to follow God and His ways. God wanted Jeremiah to remind His people that God made a commitment to them, and they made a commitment to Him.
which I commanded your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt, out of the iron furnace. I declared: ’Obey Me, and do everything that I command you, and you will be My people, and I will be your God,’
(Jeremiah 11:4 HCSB)
THREE WAYS I CAN LEAD MY HEART
I have to teach my heart to obey God.
The LORD said to me, "Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem: Obey the words of this covenant and carry them out. For I strongly warned your ancestors when I brought them out of the land of Egypt until today, warning them time and time again: Obey My voice.
(Jeremiah 11:6-7 HCSB)
I have to be honest with God about my heart.
What right does My beloved have to be in My house, having carried out so many evil schemes? Can holy meat prevent your disaster so you can rejoice?
(Jeremiah 11:15 HCSB)
Many times we sin, but we don’t really want to admit that we screwed up. We don’t want to confess our problems to God. We just want to “cover it up” and then hope on the grace of God, that He will just overlook the offense.
As a Christian that is a very dishonest way to live. We don’t use God’s grace and continue to sin. If my heart is being stubborn and leading me into trouble, I need to get it retuned in prayer.
The reason that God would not let Jeremiah pray for the people is because God does not want people who are not “in tune” trying to pray – when they are going to be completely dishonest with God in their prayers.
"As for you, do not pray for these people. Do not raise up a cry or a prayer on their behalf, for I will not be listening when they call out to Me at the time of their disaster.
(Jeremiah 11:14 HCSB)
I have to let God tune-up my heart.
The LORD named you a flourishing olive tree, beautiful with well-formed fruit. He has set fire to it, and its branches are consumed with a great roaring sound. "The LORD of Hosts who planted you has decreed disaster against you, because of the harm the house of Israel and the house of Judah brought on themselves, provoking Me to anger by burning incense to Baal."
(Jeremiah 11:16-17 HCSB)
God gave you a new heart, and a new name. He has redeemed you. He wants you to do well in your life. He wants you to see success and significance in your life. He can do it by purifying your life. Either you can let the fire destroy you, or let the fire purify you.
Purification is like a tune-up or a re-alignment.
Now the problem in Jeremiah’s time was that the people equated more religion as good enough to solve their problem. They have a heart problem, then they just need more religion. But the problem was that God had developed a relationship with them and He wanted their faithfulness. All He was getting was people who would want to have God but they wanted their religious activity with it. So when they disobeyed God, they thought that their solution was to get religious. Go to another god and worship it, and God will just “look over” my sins.
But the problem with just using a religion (or going to church) as the solution is that you are covering up the real problem.
You put a new tire from another company on the van. What you really need is for a mechanic to come re-align your car and give you a tune-up. It may be time for you to ask the “Master Mechanic” for a re-alignment of your heart.
