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Jeremiah 17:5,9

⁵This is what the LORD says: "Cursed is the one who trusts in man, who depends on flesh for his strength and whose heart turns away from the LORD.

⁹The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?

Man's very nature turns him away from God and turns him to the ability of man. If it is not self that we rely upon, then it is the ability of another. It takes a revelation and the grace of God to turn us away from man to place our trust in God. Why is it so difficult to see that God is more reliable and capable than man? It seems like such any easy decision, and yet over and over again we turn to man. The passage here says that will place a curse upon our self. The natural outcome of trusting in corrupted man will be some kind of curse on our lives.

After the 10,000th failure, one would think we would get the idea and turn to God. Why don't we learn? It is because it is engrained in our deceitful hearts. We even deceive ourselves! This nature within us is so bent on staying free from the influence of God that it will choose self-destruction before it will trust in His incredibly gracious plan for us. The heart is beyond cure. You can't develop a mental exercise, or a magic pill, or a special chant that will cure your heart. The only hope is a new heart. We were born in need of a heart transplant. Is there a donor anywhere to be found?

Ezekiel 36:26-27 (NIV) ²⁶I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. ²⁷And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. Jesus will give us His own broken heart if we are willing to receive it. It comes with selfless concern for others, a willingness to lay down your life, and most of all, a will to please the Father. Will you receive it?

Consider: Do I have that new heart, or am I trusting in the old one?