Let’s read Proverbs 6:12-14, “A worthless person, a wicked man, walks with a perverse mouth; He winks with his eyes, He shuffles with his feet, He points with his fingers; Perversity is in his heart, He devises evil continually, He SOWS DISCORD” (NKJV). In this passage the Spirit of God describes the actions of a “con man.” He is rightly called a “worthless” and “wicked” person, for his main purpose in life is to deceive people and create strife among men. He is spoken of later in verses 16-19, “These six things the LORD hates, yes, seven are an abomination to Him: a proud look, a lying tongue, hands that shed innocent blood, a heart that devises wicked plans, feet that are swift in running to evil, a false witness who speaks lies, and one who SOWS DISCORD AMONG BRETHREN.”

Notice how his whole body is used for evil (his MOUTH, his EYES, his HANDS, his FEET), but it is in “his HEART” where all of his evil actions begin. We read “perversity is in HIS HEART….a HEART that devises wicked plans.” The Bible states in Jeremiah 17:9, “The HEART IS DECEITFUL above all things, and DESPERATELY WICKED; who can know it?” The con man is the epitome of this humbling truth! He pretends to be a sincere and caring person, while in truth he is bent on deceiving his innocent victims for personal gain and to create strife among them.

The world was filled with such men in Noah’s day, as we see in Genesis 6:5, “Then the LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intent of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.” This indeed caused “discord among men” and “enmity towards God” as well. This is borne out in verses 11-12, “The earth also was corrupt before God, and the earth was filled with violence. So God looked upon the earth, and indeed it was corrupt; for all flesh had corrupted their way on the earth.” Again, the source of this corruption and violence was THE HEART.

We may be thinking, “I’m sure glad that I’m not like that.” But the solemn truth is THAT DECEITFUL HEART is in every one of us (as we saw in Jeremiah 17:9). Proverbs 27:19 declares, “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man.” Just as you can see your face reflected in a pool of water, so your own heart is reflected in the actions of others. Thus the picture we saw of the con man is also a picture of us! I’m not saying we all behave like this man, but we are just as capable of this wickedness. We can rightly say, “OUR heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked.”

Yet we can praise God for His grace which intervened so we could be given a NEW HEART. He sent His Son to the cross of Calvary in order to provide salvation for us and so that we could be BORN AGAIN (see John 3:1-16). With the NEW LIFE that God offers to us we can be delivered from the deceitfulness of our OLD SINFUL HEART. I will close by quoting 2nd Peter 1:2-4, “Grace and peace be multiplied to you in the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord, as His divine power has given to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us by glory and virtue, by which have been given to us exceedingly great and precious promises, that through these YOU MAY BE PARTAKERS OF THE DIVINE NATURE, HAVING ESCAPED THE CORRUPTION THAT IS IN THE WORLD THROUGH LUST.” (327.3) (DO)