Jeremiah 4:14
“O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?”
Trying to find the source of a problem is always the key to determining what to fix. When you try to fix a mechanical problem in your car, the mechanic will let the symptoms guide him to the source of the problem. Once you find the source of the problem, you can fix it so the car can run properly.
Likewise, when dealing with sin, you need to get to the source of the problem so you can fix it. Too often we try to deal with the symptoms when what we need to correct is the source. You can remove all the symptoms of sin from your life, and this will certainly help, but you will not correct your problem if you don’t get to the source.
In the verse above, God shows us the two culprits that are the sources of sin. He described some of their symptoms in the previous verses, but He got down to the source of their sin in this verse. If you will deal with both of these culprits and fix them, then you can fix many of the problems in your life.
The first culprit of sin is your thought life. Notice it says, “How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?” Being vain is showing an excessively high opinion of one’s self. When a person is vain, they are conceited, they are obsessed with themselves, everything must revolve around them and they are very arrogant. In other words, being vain is being filled with pride. Proud thoughts are always the beginning of all sin. That is why God said in 1 Chronicles 7:14, that the first thing we must do to have revival is to “humble” ourselves. Pride is always the source of all sin. I don’t care what your other symptom may be, it all comes down to pride. Pride always leads to more sin. You will never overcome sin until you get a proper perspective of yourself.
The second culprit of sin is your heart. God says, “…wash thine heart from wickedness,…” Your heart is wicked, and you will never overcome sin until you admit it. Friend, you can lie to yourself about how good you are, but that is your pride stepping in and keeping you from dealing with your heart. One of the greatest reasons we never have victory over sin is because we have a hard time admitting the wickedness of our heart.
When you come to the point in life when you are tired of your sin, then you must truly admit your pride and heart are the culprits of your sin. When you can tell God that you are filled with pride and that you are truly a wicked person, then that is when God will step in to help you overcome your sin. You may not think that admitting these things is that big of a deal, but God says it is. Look at 1 John 1:9, “If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” Confession is the key that puts God into action to help you overcome sin.
Whatever sin you face today, the source of that sin is your pride and heart. You can remove all the symptoms of sin, but until you deal with your pride and heart you will continue to go back to your sin. I challenge you to come to grips with your pride and wicked heart so you can overcome every sin with which you struggle.