In deciding what direction to go in life, many people choose to “follow their heart.” Whatever seems good or appears to provide fulfillment is the course that they pursue. This can be done with sincere motives and the appearance of wisdom, but in the end this path will not provide the fulfillment that we expect or desire.

Determining the course we will take in life by following our heart is dangerous. The Lord said, “The heart is more deceitful than all else and is desperately sick; who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). How many times have people followed their heart and ruined their lives, making decisions that brought harm to themselves and to others?

The prophet Jeremiah acknowledged, “I know, O Lord, that a man’s way is not in himself, nor is it in a man who walks to direct his steps” (Jeremiah 10:23). Pursuing the course that we decide upon is “futility and striving after wind” (Ecclesiastes 2:17). When people realize this, it becomes a source of consistent frustration. This is why Solomon wrote, “So I hated life, for the work which had been done under the sun was grievous to me; because everything is futility and striving after wind. Thus I hated all the fruit of my labor for which I had labored under the sun…” (Ecclesiastes 2:17-18).

If our heart is deceitful and our way is not in ourselves, how do we determine the way we need to go in life?Continue Reading