When you’re trying to figure out what is the path you should take in your life, i.e. career, you’ll hear a lot of motivational speakers say something like, “Follow your heart!” And in the last 25 years or so, you’ll even hear a lot of preachers and pastors, even Word of Faith preachers say that. They’ll say that people will ask them what they should do in life and/or how do they find the Will of God concerning their career path. Many will respond by saying, “That’s easy, what’s on your heart most of the time? What do you dream about most of the time?” And many will quote scriptures like Psalms 37:4, “Delight yourself in the Lord; and He shall give you the desires of your heart.” As evidence to follow your heart.
In the last 10 or 15 years or so, many secular speakers, some of which may be Christians, will tell you don’t follow your heart. They’ll say things like, “Just because something’s on your heart all the time doesn’t mean you’ll be good enough to make a living at it.” And lately I see a few preachers on YouTube say similar things, even quoting scriptures like Jeremiah 17:8, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it.” So in other words, they’re saying don’t follow your heart as well.
Well, both points of view are somewhat valid. Here’s the challenge though. I heard a preacher say this years ago, and I’m sure many of you have run into this. You’ll go on a website or watch a video on YouTube sharing the 15 foods you should always eat. Then you’ll go see another one sharing the 10 foods you should never eat. And you’ll see some of the foods on both lists. And both lists will cite experts from some Ivy League school. And if you’ve done any research on the internet at all, you’ve experienced this. And not just with food. You pick the topic.
STUDY TO SHOW YOURSELF APPROVED
Well, getting back to following your heart, let me remind you of this scripture. 2 Timothy 2:15 says, “Study to show yourself approved unto God,, rightly dividing the word of truth.” (Emphasis mine) And of course I’m only addressing the Christian preacher on this point.
I happen to be in the camp that says you can follow your heart but there are conditions. The ones who quote Jeremiah 17:8 as to why you shouldn’t follow your heart are forgetting one Bible fact. That’s an Old Testament scripture. That was before anyone could get Born Again and have Christ live on the inside of you. That was before anyone got a new heart. And definitely before anyone could get filled with the Holy Spirit.
As for those preachers who say follow your heart without any conditions or restrictions, they’re leaving out something very important as well. Romans 12:2 says, “Be not conformed to this world: but be transformed by the renewing of your mind.” And 1 Corinthians 5:17 says, “Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new.”
You see, delighting yourself in the Lord is part of the mind renewal process. By spending time with and seeking the Lord in His Word, in prayer, and attending a Bible-based, Bible teaching, Spirit-filled, Spirit-led church, you’ll start to hear the voice of God more clearly. Also, your heart will be more in tune with His Will for your life.
ABIDE, ABIDE, ABIDE
Another scripture people forget is John 15:7. Jesus said, “If you abide in Me, and My Words abide in you, you shall ask what you will and it shall be done unto you.” Some people misunderstand these two scriptures, Psalms 37:4 and John 15:7. They are very similar in principle. I think what may happen is a new believer or one who is not grounded in the Word will hear a Word of faith preacher teach these scriptures and think, “If I read my Bible, pray a lot, and go to church, I can ask God for anything I want and He’ll give it to me.” Then, if after a while, what they we’re praying for doesn’t manifest, they get bitter towards God. Then they’ll hear someone preach that those scriptures don’t really mean that. They’ll say of course God’s not going to give you something sinful or that’s against His Will.
Here’s a couple of things people are missing. First of all, God is not going to give you something sinful because it says He’ll give you the desire of your heart, not your flesh. Secondly, the Lord knows that if you delight yourself in Him, and you abide in Jesus, and His Words abide in you, your desires will change. So, you’ll start asking for things that are more in line with His Will. If you’ve been saved any length of time and spent serious time it the Word, prayer, and seeking Him, you’ve probably experienced this to some degree. Why? Because your heart has changed.
PERSONAL TESTIMONY
Let me share a couple of things that happened to me when I first got saved, and I’m sure this happened to a lot of you. I got saved in 1985. I was born and raised in New York (and still live there) but at the time I was living in Los Angeles. Musical artists like Prince and Michael Jackson were big then and I was into that type of music. You’d hear a lot of Christians speak against that type of music. I asked somebody I just met who had been saved for a while about that and he gave me some of the best advice I’ve ever heard.
He said, “Well, you just keep reading your Bible, just keep praying, and keep going to church and you’ll know what music to listen to.” And that’s what I did for about the next three months. I just did those things plus work, work out and play ball. (I was a baseball player back then) No one told me don’t go to the clubs. I just didn’t. Looking back now it’s obvious that was the Holy Spirit at work.
Well, at the end of the summer I came home to New York for about a month. One day I decided to go to a club. And let me tell you, I felt so out of place. Not guilty but, “WHAT AM I DOING HERE!” I lost all desire for that lifestyle. I went back the next week to see if it was just a bad night, but it was the same. No desire. I went to a club once more about three months later and haven’t been back since. That was over 40 years ago. Absolutely no desire. My heart had changed.
A MERRY (RIGHTEOUS) HEART DOES GOOD LIKE A MEDICINE
About two or three years after I got saved, I was home just channel surfing, seeing what was on TV. I think Comedy Central just came out and they were showing a rerun of Saturday Night Live. They were doing a skit of a fake commercial and when they got to the punchline, it had sexual connotations. The audience laughed but my reaction was, “That’s kind of vile.” Not only did I not find that the least bit funny, but it also really repulsed me. I turned the TV off and started to walk away when the Holy Spirit reminded me,
“You know you were in high school and watched it live when that show aired about 10 years ago and you were rolling around on the floor laughing hysterically at the punchline.” I was like,
“That’s right! I completely forgot.” And it wasn’t like, “I’m a Christian now, I’m not supposed to laugh at that anymore.” My heart had changed, which included my sense of humor.
MORAL OF THE STORY
The point of this blog is you can follow your heart if your heart is following God. And you make sure your heart is following God by spending time in His Word, in prayer, attending a good church, and sitting under a Godly, Spirit filled Pastor. And while you may be surrounded by unbelievers on your job or business, fellowship with other Spirit filled believers of like precious faith in your social situations. If doing so, you can follow your heart. Selah!