God Talks To You

If We Have Ears To Hear...

This is the fourth in a series of posts from Chapter 2 of Friends With God: “How Do You Love God As His Friend”. In the Third Post we discussed the fact that we can choose to have a stony heart, or choose to have a heart that is fertile for the growth of the character of God in us. (Luke 8:15)

God Gives Favour To The Humble

James tells us that we must humbly choose to live God’s way of life:

God resists the proud, but giveth grace (favour) unto the humble. Submit yourselves (your choice) therefore to God. Resist the devil, (your choice) and he will flee from you. Draw near to God, (your choice) and he will draw near to you. Cleanse your hands, you sinners (your choice); and purify your hearts, (your choice) you double minded. (James 4:6-9)   

You will also see that many of the Proverbs tell us to choose to follow God:

Incline your ear (your choice) and hear the words of the wise, (your choice) and apply your heart to My knowledge. (your choice) For it is a pleasant thing if you keep them within you; let them be fixed upon your lips, (choose to speak and think these words) so that your trust may be in the Lord. (Prov 22:17-19)

We are told to Incline your ear, which is similar to what Jesus often told us: If any man have ears to hear, let him hear. (Matt 11:15, 13:9, 13:43, Mark 4:9, 4:23, 7:16, Luke 8:8, 14:35)

The outcome of all this hearing will be to gain a lot of knowledge, and what is the purpose of all the knowledge that God gives you? He tells you in the next verse in Proverbs 22:

I have made known to you this day, even to you. (yes, he is talking to you) Have I not written to you excellent things in counsels and knowledge (in all scripture), that I might make you know the sureness of the words of truth (God teaches you the truth, for the simple reason to enable you…); to answer the words of truth to those who send to you? (Prov 22:19-21)

We choose to direct our heart to follow God’s way of life, so that we can then teach others who ask us about God. (Matt 5:16)

God wants us to be a light to the world, but in order to do so we need to choose to follow his way and incline our heart toward his direction. Then God will reward us:

Do not let your heart envy sinners; but be in the fear (awe) of the Lord all the day long. For surely there is a hereafter, and your hope shall not be cut off. (Prov 23:17-18)

My son, hear and be wise, and guide your heart in the way (Prov 23:19)

We need to trust in God’s way of life to guide our heart, and therefore direct our actions to do good, so that we may be a light to the world of his way of life.

If you search the scriptures for the word “heart”, you will see that there are many more admonitions urging  us to take control over the direction of our heart. Here are just a few from Psalms and Proverbs: Psalm 24:3-5, 17:3, Prov 15:14, 15:28, 16:21, 16:23, 18:15, 23:12, 23:26, 24:11-12, 22:11, 28:25-26.  

Other “Wicked Heart” Scriptures

In the Second Post, we discussed the common scriptural misquoting of Jeremiah 17:9, where preachers claim that our hearts are made wicked and can’t do good. However, as we have seen in all these scriptures, it is clear that God expects us to control and guide our hearts to be pure, honest, good, loving, and wise, which is then pleasing to God. (Matt 5:8, 22:37-38, Luke 8:15)

In the light of the above understanding, let’s look at the other scriptures preachers commonly use to support their understanding that we have a wicked heart.

Fools Don’t Do Good

What does it mean when it says:

“The Lord was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God. They have all gone out of the way together; they are unclean, there is not one who does good, no, not one.” (Psalm 14:2-3)

This certainly seems like we’re all a bad lot! However, as with Jeremiah 17:9 discussed in Post Two in this series, we need to read the context in order to understand the intent of what is being said.

The first verse of Psalm 14 tells us whom God is talking about in verses 2 and 3.

“The foolish man has said in his heart, God will not do anything. They are unclean, they have done evil works; there is not one who does good.” (Psalm 14:1)

So, in this context, the next two verses make sense. God is talking about what the foolish man is like, they have no wisdom, and none of the foolish does anything that is good.

Then in verse 4 it continues: “Have all the workers of iniquity (the foolish men) no knowledge? who eat up my people (the righteous) as they eat bread, and (the foolish) call not upon the Lord. There were they (the foolish) in great fear (the foolish were afraid of God): for God is in the generation of the righteous. (Psalm 14:4-5)

We have foolish and righteous people being spoken about. Who are these righteous whom God is with? They are obviously different from the foolish ones, who don’t have any wisdom, for they are being attacked by them!

This Psalm is comparing the workers of iniquity with the workers of righteousness. It should not be used to condemn all people as when it says “there is not one who does good, no, not one”, it’s obviously talking about the foolish of verse 1, not the righteous of verse 5.  

God is not saying in this verse that no people are righteous, there are many that he considers to be righteous- including you, if you choose to be upright in your heart:

Be glad in the LORD, and rejoice, you righteous: and shout for joy, all you that are upright in heart. (Psa 32:11)

Noah’s Rotten Neighbours

Another scripture often used to say we all have wicked hearts is: “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” (Gen 6:5)

Preachers, claim that this verse means all people, that have ever lived, only ever imagine evil in their wicked hearts. The context however of this verse is the time of the flood, in Noah’s day. Because most people in the world were evil, God decided to destroy them. (Gen 6:7) And, But Noah found grace in the eyes of the Lord. (Gen 6:8)

Have you ever had very bad neighbours, and prayed to God that they would just go away? No doubt Noah prayed exactly that, and God did it for him! Perhaps Noah was not so much spared from destruction, as all the people in the world were destroyed so as to spare Noah from having to put up with them!

Did Noah have a wicked heart? Not according to scripture:

By faith Noah, being warned of God of things not seen as yet, moved with fear, prepared an ark to the saving of his house; by the which he condemned the world, and became heir of the righteousness which is by faith. (Heb 11:7)

Noah was a very righteous man, and he was fifteen generations before Abraham, and Abraham is called the father of those of us today who have faith in God. (Rom 4:16) So, while Christians can learn to have faith through the example of Abraham, it seems that Abraham may have actually learnt faith by the example of Noah.

God did not make those people who perished in the flood evil, they chose to be evil:

And God looked upon the earth. And, behold, it was corrupted! For all flesh had corrupted its way upon the earth. (Gen 6:12)

The people had become corrupted, because the people had corrupted their way. They all chose to be evil, except Noah, so God saved him from the flood, which also got rid of his rotten neighbours.

After The Flood

Preachers also quote Gen 8:21 to claim people have wicked hearts. Yet we see that after the flood, God still loved Noah, and God decided never to destroy all life from the earth in the same way again, no matter how corrupt people became. When Noah came out of the Ark, he offered a sacrifice to God:

And when the sweet smell (of the sacrifice) came up to the Lord, He (God) said in his heart, I will not again put a curse on the earth because of man, for (even if) the thoughts of man's heart are evil from his earliest days; never again will I send destruction on all living things as I have done.” (Gen 8:21)

I added the words (even if) to the above quote, because if God were saying that the thoughts of all men's heart are always evil then this would have to have included Noah, God’s friend- whom God walked with.

Jesus tells us that at the end time, before his return, it will be similar to the times before Noah went into the Ark. (Matt 24:37-39) And, Jesus, continued to say, that some at that time will choose to obey God, and some will choose to not obey, and both will reap the appropriate rewards. (Matt 24:45-51)

That is exactly how it was at the time of Noah, with him and his family being the only ones that chose to obey, and were the only ones that were saved.

To imply from these two verses, in Genesis 6:5 and 8:21, that all people, for all time, are evil in their heart, is to totally misread the clear intent and context of these verses. 

God Enjoys Relating To You

Humans are the pinnacle of (and indeed the entire purpose for) all of God’s creation. We are made in his image, and were given the entire creation to rule. (Gen 1:27-28)

God declared everything he had made to be very good- which included man. (Gen 1:31) But, God is not finished with our creation yet.

Unlike the bird kind and the fish kind, who were finished and cannot change, we who are made in the image of the “God kind”, have the capacity to change and grow into the fullness and knowledge of God over our entire lifetimes- so that we can fulfil the potential of becoming born again sons of God. (Eph 4:13)

We also have the choice to reject this potential, so that we will die like an animal and go back to being dust.

While Adam and Eve sinned, we also see that the next generation of people included Abel, who is called righteous. (Matt 23:35, Heb 11:4) Did God create in Adam and Eve a wicked heart, but in Abel a good heart? No, God made us in his image, and then told us to choose to follow his way of life.

He did not force Adam and Eve to obey him, but rather tested them to see if they would choose obey him or not.

In Proverbs 8:1-36 we have a parallel description of the creation of the earth, where the wisdom of God is shown to be at the very heart of the creation process.

This wisdom was “daily his (God’s) delight, rejoicing always before him (God); Rejoicing in the habitable part of his earth; and my (wisdom’s) delight was in the sons of men.” (Prov 8:30-31)

Here we are told poetically that God, as personified by wisdom, delighted in his creation of the sons of men. He made us very well, delighted in us, and therefore he obviously didn’t create in us a wicked heart.  

He then goes on to tell us in the next verse, that we have the choice to obey God and live, or not to obey and die:

And now listen to me, (our choice) O sons; for blessed are those who keep my ways. Hear instruction, and be wise, and do not refuse it. (our choice) Blessed is the man who hears me, watching daily at my gates, waiting at the posts of my doors. (our choice to do all this)
For whoever (chooses to) find me finds life, and shall obtain favour from the Lord. But he who sins against me wrongs his own soul; all who hate me love death. (Prov 8:32-36)

If we don’t choose to follow God’s way of wisdom, then eternal death is the ultimate choice we have made- for we are mortal, and only God can give us eternal life.

God Rejoices In Righteous People

They that are perverse in heart are an abomination to the Lord:
but such as are upright in their way are his (God’s) delight. (Prov 11:20)

In the context of talking about “the wicked heart of man”, preachers often say something like “God doesn’t need anything from you. He owns everything, so no matter what you give him, your only giving back to him what is his anyway.”

This sort of attitude, however, only seeks to negate and denigrates our value to God. These preachers are saying that because we supposedly have a wicked heart, we also can’t do anything to please God. Yet, what we give to God is the joy he gets to see you live a righteous life.

The sacrifice of the wicked is an abomination to the Lord:
but the prayer of the upright is his delight. (Prov 15:8)

God delighted in his creation of Adam and Eve, for he knew their potential to become his sons and daughters. Just as you love your children, God loves us as his children, he doesn’t hate us. (John 3:16) God also delights in you, if you walk a righteous life.

We delight God when we follow his way by living a righteous life:

Thus says the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: but let him that glories, glory in this, that he understands, and knows me, that I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, says the Lord. (Jer 9:23-24)

When God sees us exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth then God delights in us .

We can make God happy, and this is one reason he made us, for God gets great delight and enjoyment from developing a relationship with righteous people who receive and spread His love and goodness to others.

The word translated “delight” is also often translated as “favour”, please look up the following scriptures showing that God truly enjoys relating with you, when you choose to live his way of love and peace: Deut 10:15, Psalm 5:12, Prov 8:35, 12:2, 12:22, 11:1, 11:20 18:22.

In the next post we will examine how to love God as a friend, as demonstrated by Jesus and the Apostles.