Rooms of the Heart

Kids are great. Really. I honestly get a lot of joy and wonder at seeing how kids understand the world through new and amazed eyes.

But kids are crazy.

I mean, I'm just gonna be real here: kids are just bad people. Granted, we all are, but as we grow older, we learn how to hide and mask our evil nature. With kids? Plain as day. You can see just how wicked they are at heart (Jer. 17:9) in just simple daily life!

Think I'm crazy? Think about it. And this is an example that parents will understand perfectly: when you ask a young child, as his father or mother, to do something you're probably going to hear a simple response. "No." And I have seen it happen without fail with kids. Sometimes they listen because they've been taught, but their most natural and organic response is to rebel. It's in their hearts. Plain and simple.

So, ok, we can see it in children, but what about in our own lives? The book of Jeremiah says that our hearts are desperately wicked and deceitful above all things. Consider that a moment. That means that your super-religious grandma, Mother Teresa, and even the pope are wicked at heart!

Our wickedness spawns rebellion, folks.

And here is what tends to happen a lot in churches today. We start attending, stop cursing, stop partying, "get our lives right," and begin to think we're straight with God. We've dealt with a lot of the sin in our lives and now seem to be living the "good Christian life." But there's a catch isn't there? Out of all of the sins we've dealt with, there's still one area that we want God to leave untouched.

We've all heard that Jesus comes "into our hearts" when we get saved. And that's absolutely true. But lemme tell you what someone explained to me: the heart has many rooms. When the Spirit enters your heart, he wants to go in EVERY room. But we tell Him, "Hey man, it's cool you're here and everything, and I'm glad for all the stuff you've done for me... but don't go into the bedroom."

*Buzzer sound*

We will often let God deal with almost all of the sin in our hearts, and go into almost all of it, but we still have that one area that we've always ignored and hoped it would be left alone. For some it may be porn. For others it may be anger. For still others it may be flirtation. Hatred. Addiction. Greed. Jealousy. And that's just to name a few.

God tells the mountains to move and they move.
He tells the rivers to flood and they flood.
God addresses the secret sin in our hearts and we say, "NO! Don't go there. Everything else but there."

How dare we? This is the God who created you! Lemme tell you, he has just as much power to "un-create" you, if you know what I mean.

When people have their sin addressed, they can respond in some pretty strange ways. They can ignore it. They can fight it. But lemme warn you of a really dangerous way of dealing with it. Some people will realize their sin and then do something else to make up for it.

So, instead of the issue being dealt with, they say, "Hey, I know that I'm supposed to battle with the lust issue in my heart, but instead I'll just join the youth band and join my church's outreach ministry." They do this in hopes that God will overlook their sin because of all of the "good" stuff their doing.

Have you ever heard of a murderer being released from jail because the judge saw that he was helping the homeless? Didn't think so. Our good doesn't outweigh our crime with the government, and it doesn't either with God.

What I'm asking is that you deal with it. Find someone who can help you. (A pastor, youth leader, or fellow Christian) Tell them about the problem. The Bible shows that their is great power when you confess your sins to your fellow believers. Get someone to keep you accountable for your sin and who will check up on how you're dealing with it periodically. And you'll find that when you are able to be completely open about your deepest sin, you will find the most joy and freedom in the Spirit.

But don't just let it go, because your blood will be on your own hands.

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