Foolish Heart

I think I was just plain hungry!  I was browsing through the internet news sites, and saw this article in the Inquirer:  http://globalnation.inquirer.net/2672/reviving-the-%e2%80%98bicol-express%e2%80%99

The title:  REVIVING THE BICOL EXPRESS.  And I thought it was about food!  It immediately brought to mind the bicol express served in one of my favorite restaurants here in Bacolod.  But, alas, when I clicked on the page it was about the PNR reviving their train ride to Bicol from Manila.  Hahaha…anyway, congrats to the Bicolanos, the train ride from Manila to Bicol has been revived!  Me…I’m still hungry, and writing this blog.

Wow, the power of hunger.  It can fool around with our imagination!  Have you ever made the wrong decision because you were hungry?  Maybe you ate too much, or ordered food and forgot to check how much it would cost.  When we follow our appetites, without thinking, many times it leads us to do things we probably would not normally do. (ok, I have to confess – while writing this I paused, went down to the small store beside our ministry center and bought a 12 peso snack that would usually cost 9 pesos in a supermarket – something I wouldn’t usually do.  But, I was hungry!).  The power of hunger!  The pull of desire.  It can influence you to do things.  Unless, of course, we learn how to harness it’s power, and seek a stronger influence to conquer it. 

Jeremiah 17:9  The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

It’s true, isn’t it?  The heart – with all of it’s emotions, desires, wants and needs, is deceitful.  It will deceive us into doing anything and everything just to fulfill whatever desire or emotion that we have tucked away in it.  Many of us, if not all of us, have been “victimized” by the desires or feelings of our foolish hearts.  (Ok…I can hear some of you singing the Steve Perry song…foolish heart hear me calling, stop before you start falling).  Maybe it was hunger, a need, a love for someone, a crush…whatever our hearts felt many of us have fallen prey to it, and we ended up doing foolish things.

And, so, we need to be careful not to easily, and quickly, heed the pull of our hearts.  If our hearts are deceitful then who can we trust?

Jeremiah 17:10  "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve."

Instead of trusting our heart, we should be trusting the Lord.  He alone can really search our heart and examine our mind, and lead us into the right conduct, the right life – a life that He will reward.

We should be careful not to allow our emotions or feelings to lead us.  It must always be the Lord.  So the next time we feel “hungry” for something, or even someone, let us first surrender our heart to the One who examines our hearts and minds, and who can lead us to the right path.