For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, sexual immorality, thefts, false witness, and blasphemies.

— Matthew 15:19

Some sins are at the taproot of the heart. When is comes to these sins, the devil will say to you, “Oh, you may get rid of this sin, or give up that sin, or quit doing this, or quit doing that, … but when it comes to this particular sin, you’ll never get rid of it!” This is your taproot sin. Has it been cut? If not, Jesus is the master gardener.

I don’t know what your tap root sin is. Maybe it is greed or lust, or perhaps it is gluttony, or alcohol, or you’re addicted to something, and that taproot sin holds you right down in the earth. You can’t grow in your spiritual life because you are bound in the ground by that taproot.

Maybe the sin is criticism or gossip. Oh, what a vicious taproot that is! Perhaps it’s anger. You’re angry at someone who has done you in.

I don’t know if you are struggling with a taproot sin, but I do know that unless it is cut, you cannot rise up and follow Christ.

Jesus has conquered all sin, and there is no sin that you cannot overcome in His name and by the power of His blood. Let Jesus deal with your sin, and His victory will shine in your previously defeated heart.

Question to ponder:
How can we learn to detect the root sin in our heart?

He who is faithful in what is least is faithful also in much.

— Luke 16:10

Jesus didn’t say to everyone what He said to the rich young ruler; instructing him to sell all he had, give to the poor, and follow Him (Luke 18). I think that what we really have in the story of the rich young ruler is the story of the taproot sin.

Some trees that have taproots have other roots that extend out a little bit on the surface. But they have one root that goes deep down into the earth. You can cut all of the surface roots, and you can’t remove that tree to save your life unless you cut the taproot. In His encounter with the rich young ruler, Christ put the axe to the taproot of his sin. The rich young ruler trusted in his possessions.

What we have been given is for our benefit and for the good of God’s people and His Kingdom. Numerous times I have seen how much good one committed Christian can do for God using his wealth. Whether we have little or much, the important thing is: Can God trust us to manage what He has given us?

Question to ponder:
How can you use your possessions for God and His Kingdom?

And He said to them, “Follow Me, and I will make you fishers of men.”

— Matthew 4:19

One of the greatest needs of the human soul is the need for adventure. We long to be a part of something big, a grand epic, something beyond us. This is what Jesus offered Peter.

Jesus said to Peter, “Do not fear. From now on you will catch men” (Luke 5:10). No more slimy, scaly, smelly fish for you, Peter. You shall catch men—such men as you never even dreamt to speak to in your life you shall catch, for I will give your life a meaning and a significance and a purpose that you can’t even dream about. Your life with Me will be an adventure, not a humdrum, because you have taken Me at My word.”

The Lord offers us a part in this great adventure. He has a purpose for our lives. What He has for us is way beyond simply going to work and coming home. He wants us to be kingdom-builders. God will reveal Himself to all who seek Him diligently.

Question to ponder:
How can you open your heart to God’s big adventure? How do we find our purpose?

You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not hold guiltless anyone who takes His name in vain.

— Exodus 20:7

The law of gravity says that if you step off the roof of a 30-story building, you will be dead. That is not a threat. It is a fact—a very simple fact. And if you take the name of God in vain, it is a fact that God will not hold you guiltless. What does that mean? It means you shall not go unpunished.

As a young man in my late teens and early twenties I, on occasion, used profanity and used the name of God in vain. Then I learned of the immense love of Jesus Christ. I learned that when He was on that Cross, He was agonizing for me; that what He endured there, He was enduring for my sake and in my place. As my substitute, in my stead the wrath of God fell on His head for my sins. And with many tears I fell to my knees and invited Him into my heart to be the Lord and Savior of my life. That was many years ago. To the best of my remembrance, and I think in this case it is accurate, since that time I have not once in all these years taken the name of Jesus Christ in vain. That is because I love Him, and I want to honor His name.

Question to ponder:
How can we honor God’s name?

Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark.

— James 3:5

Tact can go a long way in solving a lot of problems, as one man who worked in a grocery store discovered when an elderly lady came up and wanted to buy half a head of cabbage. “But Madam,” he said, “we only sell the whole head.”

“I just want half a head of cabbage,” she replied. “I live by myself and I only need half a head of cabbage.”

He tried a number of times to dissuade her. Finally, with some exasperation, he said, “Well, I’ll go and ask the manager.”

So he walked to the back of the store and found the manager. “Can you believe that some old idiot wants to buy half a head of cabbage?” he exclaimed. Then he noticed out of the corner of his eyes that the woman had followed him and was standing right behind him. Recovering his tact quickly, he said, “And this dear lady has agreed to buy the other half. Would that be all right?”

May God grant that we learn to control our tongues. May He help us to use them to build people up, not to tear them down. May He give us the grace to glorify Him and to use our tongues tell others of Jesus.

Question to ponder:
How can you use your tongue for someone’s good today?

I urge you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, that you present your bodies as a living sacrifice …

— Romans 12:1

During the Civil War, the troops of General Ulysses S. Grant were poised to capture a fort in Tennessee. The Confederate commander then sent this message: “I propose to the commanding Officer of the Federal forces the appointment of Commissioners to agree upon terms of capitulation of the forces and fort under my command.” But Grant famously replied: “No terms except an unconditional and immediate surrender can be accepted.” And Grant became known thereafter for the phrase “unconditional surrender.”

It is not for us to begin to praise God until first we have surrendered ourselves unconditionally to Christ. This is the army of the conquered—those that have been conquered by Christ.

When our hearts have been won and our wills have been taken over by Christ, when the sword of our rebellion is knocked from our hands and we are brought to the ground, only then will we abandon all lesser goals and all lesser aims, and give ourselves over to the highest and the best. Those who are most thoroughly surrendered to Him are the greatest trophies of grace and will have the greatest victories.

Our will was created good, but in Adam’s fall, the will of man became rebellious and self-serving. Only when our will is submitted to God are we free again to offer ourselves as our spiritual worship.

Question to ponder:
Is there any area of your life that is not surrendered to the Lordship of Christ?

For from within, out of the heart of men, proceed evil thoughts, adultery, fornication, murder, theft, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, and foolishness. All these evil things come from within and defile a man.

— Mark 7:21-23

The greatest minds have known that man was sinful. Albert Einstein said: “The real problem is in the hearts and minds of men. It is not a problem of physics but of ethics. It is easier to denature plutonium than to denature the evil spirit of man.”

Shakespeare, who was a masterful student of human nature, had Cassius tell Brutus the truth: “The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves that we are underlings” (Julius Caesar). How very true that is.

The problem is within us—that we are underlings, that we are sinners. The problem is not in our environment. I think of the man a hundred years ago who was driving into Maine with his wagon and his horses. He was laboriously beating his horses, and they were straining mightily to climb this long hill. Finally, as he passed a farmer who was standing on the edge of the road watching him in some amazement as he furiously drove his horses, he cried out to the farmer. “Sir, how long does this hill last?

The farmer said, “Hill, nothing. Your hind wheels are off.”

Are you having problems, my friend? You had better check your hind wheels. They may be off. The problem may be within. The only hill may be in your heart.

Question to ponder:
What do you find most troublesome about the evil within?

But godliness with contentment is great gain.

— 1 Timothy 6:6

Unless the discontented person learns the secret of contentment, he is never going to be happy, because he is never going to get enough. Whenever he gets one thing, the devil is going to let him know there is something else—a newer car, a bigger house, a boat—that is going to make him happy. But he never will be happy.

I remember reading about a man who was very, very rich. I think he had about $900 million dollars, an extraordinary amount of money at that time. A TV interviewer asked him, “Are you satisfied, contented, with what you have?”

“Well, not yet.”

“How much would it take for you to be content?”

“Just a little more.”

Do you see the truth in that? If you are discontented, then even if you had $10 billion, you would still need “just a little more” to be satisfied.

Ben Franklin said, “Who is rich? He that rejoices in his Portion … . Content[ment] makes poor men rich; Discontent[ment] makes rich Men poor.”

Not only is there a great sorrow involved in discontentment, but we also need to realize the sin of discontentment. Discontentment leads to grumbling, complaining, and unhappiness.

To be content in such a discontented culture is to shine for God, because little is much when God is in it.

Question to ponder:
Have you noticed how thankfulness and trust drive away discontentment?

Delight yourself in the LORD, and He will give you the desires of your heart.

— Psalms 37:4

We live in a culture where people are profoundly dissatisfied; we have an unrelenting lust for “more and more.” However, we are encouraged by the Lord to present our needs to Him, and He has promised to provide for us. To be satisfied by little or much, to learn contentment—this is a Christian virtue. The key is to delight ourselves in the Lord.

Thanks be to God! There is an antidote to covetousness, and that antidote is found in Jesus who brings peace and joy and rest to our hearts. To rest in Jesus is to find the answer to all of our desires.

The most astonishing thing that happened to me in my conversion was that God reached down and changed my “wanter.” Suddenly, all of the things I had always wanted and never had enough of, I did not want anymore. I saw them for the lies and deceits they really were. Suddenly, my affections were set on Someone above, and the things of this world grew strangely dim in the light of His glory and grace. At last I found contentment.

Christ gives us new desires, new affections. He sets our affections on things above, not on things here below. That is why Pilgrim, when he comes to Vanity Fair in Bunyan’s Pilgrim’s Progress, passed through without being enticed by all of the baubles therein.

Question to ponder:
How can you delight yourself in the Lord today?

The Lord will fulfill his purpose for me.

— Psalms 138:8

Alchemy, the precursor to chemistry, stands in relation to chemistry somewhat the same way that astrology stands to astronomy. The great quest of the alchemists was to transmute the base metals into the noble—to change lead into gold. As you may surmise, they failed in their quest. However, God is the great cosmic alchemist who never fails. Romans 8:28 is the alchemy of God. He changes the lead of our lives into gold.

What is the great comfort in our lives? Ultimately, it is His divine deliverance that is our great comfort—all things that come to us He is able to turn to our good. No matter what it may be, Christ can deliver us. What a marvelous promise this is—even from the greatest tragedy, the tragedy of death—Christ can deliver His people.

If Christ can turn to good even death itself, how much more can He take the problem we are facing today and bring resolution? It seems like life presents one problem after another, whether it is our health, our finances, our relationships, our work, our family, or our loved ones. As soon as we solve one problem, another presents itself. Jesus never promised a problem-free life; but He did promise that things will work together for good for those who love God and are called according to His purpose. If we are His, He will make all things right in the end. He has given us beauty for ashes.

Question to ponder:
What problem are you facing today for which you need divine deliverance?