January 8, 2026
Daily Devotional:
“The Compass of the Heart”
Jeremiah 17:9
"The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?"
We often hear the advice to "follow your heart." It sounds romantic and authentic, suggesting that our deepest desires are the truest guide to happiness. However, Jeremiah 17:9 offers a sobering reality check.
In the biblical sense, the "heart" isn't just the seat of emotions; it’s the mission control center of the human life; encompassing our thoughts, wills, and motives. Jeremiah describes it as "deceitful," This is the great disguise, a word that implies something "crooked" or "tripping someone up." The danger of the heart isn't just that it does wrong things, but that it is a master of self-justification. It can make greed look like "ambition," gossip look like "concern," and pride look like "self-respect." Because it is "desperately sick", we cannot rely on it to be our moral compass. It is a broken instrument that often points toward our own ego rather than toward God.
If the verse ended there, we would be left in despair. But the very next verse reminds us that while we cannot fully know our own hearts, this is the good news though; God does! He searches the mind and tests the heart, not to condemn us, but to heal us. We don't need to follow our hearts; we need to lead our hearts toward the Truth. When we stop trusting our flickering feelings and start trusting God’s steady Word, we find a foundation that doesn't shiftwhen the winds of emotion change.
Check the motive behind your thoughts, actions and emotions; think of a recent decision you made. Was it driven by what God says is right, or by a feeling that "felt" right at the time? In what area of your life are you currently "following your heart"? Surrender the map and seekBiblical wisdom to align our moral compass in His truth.