ONLY GOD KNOWS OUR HEARTS!

Peter said to him, "Even though they all fall away, I will not." And Jesus said to him, "Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." But he said emphatically, "If I must die with you, I will not deny you." And they all said the same... But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, "I do not know this man of whom you speak." And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, "Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times." And he broke down and wept. (Mark 14:29-31, 71, 72 ESV)

O' the horrible, bitter pain of denial! It is my observation after many years of working with this complex and nuanced creature called the human being that we do not know our own hearts. How many times have I heard the impassioned plea of a person as they tell me how pure their heart is in a given situation. I want to scream, "You don't know the motives of your heart, watch out!" Am I saying this because my heart is pure? Heck NO! If there is anything I know about me it is, I don't know about me. What we know about ourselves is only the proverbial "tip of the iceberg". There is much more under the surface of our own waves that we cannot see.

Here in this text, Peter is you, and Peter is me! Peter proclaims loyalty, courage and martyrdom. Jesus reveals denial, cowardice and brokenness. Peter sees his own intentions but Jesus sees the true state of the man. I have to go with Jesus on this one. Of course, hindsight is 20/20, but my own experience now confirms this narrative. I am no longer shocked or disappointed when a person reveals a character flaw or sin in the midst of a great test or time of pressure. I think I grasp the doctrine and reality of depravity and the "sin within". 

Jeremiah reminds us of the true state of the unregenerate heart here, "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?" (Jeremiah 17:9 ESV). However, contrasted to this text is the New Covenant promise of Ezekiel, "And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. "(Ezekiel 36:26 ESV). So, which is it, deceitful and sick, or new? Well, according to my understanding of the "heart" as it is Biblically defined, I must say both. The heart seems to be the intersection point within the human soul and spirit where the indwelling Spirit of God and the other influences of mind, will and emotion all interact. It is the center of our being from which we ultimately live out our lives. It is too complex and deep to understand completely. 

This is why it is so dangerous to judge another man's motives or intentions. We cannot even judge our own motives or intentions, so how can we possibly see into the depths of another man's heart? The apostle Paul confirms this idea here: "In fact, I do not even judge myself. For I am not aware of anything against myself, but I am not thereby acquitted. It is the Lord who judges me." (1 Corinthians 4:3, 4 ESV). There are many other places in the Scripture where we are called to make righteous judgment and assess good and evil. Where the Bible clearly labels something to be sin or evil, we are called to declare those truths. However, we cannot judge the state of our own hearts or another man's heart.  Only God knows our hearts!