"You ought to have been here five minutes ago."
"Why, what happened?"
"We had a palmist in and she read my hand. It was great fun."
I listened to the conversation between the good-natured shop-keeper and her friend, and when my turn came to be served at the counter I remarked, "So you have had your hand read; was it a good reading?"
"Great!" she replied. "She said I had a good business hand and I should make a lot of money. But it was just a joke; how can they tell what's going to happen to you? Do you believe in it?"
"No, it does not appeal to me" I said. "I should think these people are mostly just good guessers. But did you ever have your heart read?"
She looked at me suspiciously and said: "My heart read—what do you mean?"
"Well, I mean that it does not matter much what sort of hand you've got. Everything depends on having your heart read correctly. Did you ever meet the great Heart-reader? Nobody but the Lord can look into your heart, and the Bible says, 'I the LORD search the heart... to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings."'
Now, that is the important thing for us all. A palmist might read our hands and promise us a great future, but he could not insure it to us. God reads the heart, tells the truth about it, and makes promises to those who listen to what He says—and He is able to fulfill every promise that He makes. But we must begin with the heart-reading. In this matter all are alike, and here is the reading: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the LORD." Jer. 17:9, 109The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? 10I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings. (Jeremiah 17:9‑10).
When the Lord Jesus came to earth He gave the same reading in terrible detail. He said: "Out of the heart of men proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: all these evil things come from within, and defile the man." Mark 7:21-2321For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, 22Thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness: 23All these evil things come from within, and defile the man. (Mark 7:21‑23).
What must be done? "YE MUST BE BORN AGAIN!" Nothing else will do. And that comes about by the Word of God. Believe the word as to your own sinful heart, and then believe the word about God's heart.
His heart is full of love, for "God is love," and He "commendeth His love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." Romans 5:88But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8). That was the only way by which we could be changed, converted, cleansed. "The blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth us from all sin." 1 John 1:77But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship one with another, and the blood of Jesus Christ his Son cleanseth us from all sin. (1 John 1:7).