HEY! YOUR KIDNEY!!

Jeremiah 17:7-10

7 Blessed is the man that trusteth in the LORD, and whose hope the LORD is.

8 For he shall be as a tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her leaf shall be green; and shall not be careful in the year of drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit.

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

10 I 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.

About three miles north of Jerusalem, in a small hamlet hidden in the valley of Anathoth, in a priest’s home, a child was born, crying loud as ever.

Little did his parents know that this child, would be called sovereignly to be a ‘weeping prophet’. He received God’s call at a young age, probably as a teenager.

This was 623 BC.

For around forty years, Jeremiah spoke for God to the people of Judah. His family abandoned him and turned against him and even plotted to kill him. Over the years, he was whipped and put in the stocks, attacked by a mob threatened by another king. Ridiculed by the people, he was arrested, beaten, accused of treason, and thrown in jail. Later, he was thrown in a deep empty well. He was not allowed to marry and was left alone with the knowledge of the agonies coming for Judah.

He lived through the siege of Jerusalem along with the rest and was there as the people were taken away as captives. Perhaps worst of all, Jeremiah was alone!

However, his words live on thousands of years later, offering teaching and hope even today.

Jeremiah served God even when it meant giving up everything and facing persecution in a culture that had abandoned God and outrightly opposed the Word of the Lord.

Are we willing to do the same?

Look at today…

The World markets are crashing down, one by one! The UK is burning and may enter a civil war! Europe is weak and paralyzed, submitting to every cry of the Satanic! The Middle East is at war, which may open into another World War! America is up for yet another election deception, and violence is now common!

And in our own nation, nothing is stable and trustworthy anymore!

It’s a good day to be reminded of the words God gave to this Jewish prophet Jeremiah, during his time. Jeremiah wept with the burden of Heaven upon him. Saying…

9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

10 I 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.

Three things I must say.

Firstly, the human heart is full of deceit and wickedness. Crisp, new suits and red ties don’t make men. Their character does. Women in high places are the new ‘witches’ that lie and twist the truth at any given moment.

Only the Gift of Discernment given by the Spirit of God can enable us to sperate the truth from the lies.

Secondly, it is God who searches hearts. Of course, in our society, many don’t believe in God at all…but the fact is true that God created us and knows us by our hearts and not by our mouths! God is so deep. Our heart issues cannot be hidden from Heaven.

And lastly, it is God who “tries the reins”, let me elaborate.

We know the heart is the seat of the physical and spiritual life. It is the seat of passion, desires, appetites, affections, purposes, and vision. The reins of our life basically refer to the thoughts and intentions of the heart, or mind and emotions.

Why must the Lord try our reins?

In the Book of Revelation, Jesus appears with eyes of fire: searching deeply and nothing escapes His notice. He sees that, despite their good works, there was a corrupting influence in their midst. A Jezebel who ministered from the depths of Satan, the spirit that secretly embraced all that is vile in the eyes of the Lord and degraded the body of Christ. Eventually, the Lord judged her and the people who followed her teachings and acts.

Then, Jesus Himself gives the warning… “and all the churches shall know that I am he which searcheth the reins and hearts: and I will give unto every one of you according to your works” (Revelation 2:23).

God will judge the thoughts and intents of our minds. He will judge what you are thinking, and he will judge what you intend to do.

And here is some more to make you think…listen to God as He talks about the kidneys.

The kidney is the individual’s seat of deepest desires–perhaps because it is an “internal” organ, well hidden, surrounded by a capsule and by a layer of perinephric fat. The Talmudic corpus considers the kidneys to be the origin of secret counsels–“the kidneys advise”.

The kidneys in our body work to separate and take out the waste products from our blood. Within normal kidneys, there are many tubules. It is through these renal tubules that the blood flows for its purification.

So then in the text, the Lord searches through the “tubules” of our reins. He searches for everything that will defile our thoughts and intentions. His eyes see and read our thoughts. Many believers are full of good works such as love, service, faith, and patience. But under these good things is hidden a Jezebel spirit, hidden motives and intentions.

Kidneys are the only organs that were burned as a burnt offerings for sin. Exodus 29:13 says, “And thou shalt take all the fat that covereth the inwards, and the caul that is above the liver, and the two kidneys, and the fat that is upon them, and burn them upon the altar”.

The kidneys were the only organs designated as part of the sacrifice for sin. No other internal organ was so designated.

In closing. We are in the final days. The Lord is searching and looking into our lives. This is a time to be careful and watchful and humble. Repent quickly. Turn to Jesus.

And we will forever spend Eternity with Him.

Hey! Your Kidney!!