Don’t Let The Old Man In by Bryan Craig

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?  I the Lord search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.”  Jeremiah 17:9-10

The further I go on this abiding, spiritual journey and the more I seek to surrender to the Lord, I believe I become more aware of the battle that is raging around me.  There is darkness everywhere, and many items to fill my prayer list daily for people I care about or situations I hear about.  I have the spiritual gifts of Intercession and Faith, so I always pray with great anticipation and expectation of God to do miracles.  And He often does.  That is not what perplexes me the most.

It is the battles that go on inside me that seem to be the biggest struggle.  It seems daily there are temptations.  In this case, I’m not talking about temptations to sin, for we know those are always prevalent.  I’m talking about temptations to doubt myself, to feel overwhelmed and burdened about life, to question the meaning of life, to be depressed.  Now, I’m a pretty positive person, and I have a LOT to be thankful for in my life, all the more reason these thoughts disturb me.  Jeremiah’s words above about the heart give me some comfort that I’m not crazy.  “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it.”

I’ve written my thoughts on what the Heart is in other devotionals, but basically, I believe it to be the Barometer of my soul.  Watchman Nee said that the Soul is your Mind, Will and Emotions.  That explanation helps me a lot, especially when Rocky asks me, “How’s your soul?”  But the “heart” is blended into this conversation and mentioned often along with the “soul.”  So, I think if we examine what is going on in our hearts, we will see what’s going on in our thoughts, our emotions, and why we do what we do.  The heart of a person is a deep well.

Jeremiah is basically saying not to trust our hearts, because they can easily mislead us due to our sin nature.  Jeremiah 17:5-8, the verses that precede the aforementioned verses, help us better understand this concept:

Thus says the Lord: “Cursed is the man who trusts in man and makes flesh his strength, whose heart turns away from the Lord.  He is like a shrub in the desert and shall not see any good come.  He shall dwell in the parched places of the wilderness, in an uninhabited salt land.

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is the Lord.  He is like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and does not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Because of sin nature and our fickle hearts, we can easily start trusting in ourselves and our strength, even in Christian endeavors.  God says if we do this, we are CURSED and will not see any good come.  Wow!

However, if we trust in the Lord, and our trust IS The Lord, we are blessed.  I love this part of the passage because it reminds me of John 15 and Abiding in the vine.  In this case, He says if we trust in Him (abide in Him), we are planted into water, the Living Water, the Holy Spirit.  Then, we never have to worry, even in the battles, in times of drought or temptations to doubt, because He provides our nourishment and strength and bears fruit through us, no matter what.

I LOVE this imagery!  And I believe this to be 100% true.  When I read this the other day, I was having one of those mornings, and His Word refreshed my soul!  When these dark thoughts come, and I pull out God’s Word, the Sword of the Spirit, I can spiritually visualize my sword clashing against the enemy’s sword, with sparks flying. 

Several times in the past few years, God has put the admonition in front of me, “Be strong and courageous.”  These are the words God gave to Joshua in Moses’ absence.  I have learned that I need these words for my internal battles as much as every other battle.  The other day, I heard the story behind Toby Keith’s song, “Don’t Let the Old Man In.”  Apparently, he was good friends with Clint Eastwood and golfing buddies.  He was blown away at how Clint, in his 90’s, could have such a productive, uplifting life.  He asked Clint about it.  Clint said he gets up every morning and makes a decision NOT to let the Old Man in.

When I heard that, it really struck a chord within me.  Whereas Clint was talking about aging and a youthful mindset, this message applies spiritually.  We need to get up every morning, trusting in the Lord and His promises and His presence, with great strength and courage.  When the Old Man comes to us, knocking on the door, inviting us into a pity party, or an old habit, or worldly thinking, or an old identity, WE DON’T LET THE OLD MAN IN!