Insight for the Day

Those Nasty Ruts

June 24, 2025 Robert Wolgemuth—Editor

The heart is more deceitful than anything else, and incurable—who can understand it? Jeremiah 17:9

The lane to my grandfather’s farm wasn’t paved until I was an adult. So as a child, I remember hearing the crunch of the gravel under the tires of my dad’s car that last mile before arriving at the family homestead.

Every few months my uncle, who lived close by, would take the front scoop of his tractor and drag it down the surface of the lane. He leveled out the deep ruts that had been created by constant traffic.

As a grown man, I have thought a lot about those deep grooves in my grandfather’s lane. I have theorized: if people had been able to drive on the lane in different spots, there would have been no ruts—no need for Uncle Allon’s scraper.

The reason I have thought about the creases in my grandfather’s road is that they remind me of my propensity to sin. I’m sure this sounds a little abstract, but stay with me for just a moment.

In the text we read today, Jeremiah tells us something about our hearts—the place where our drives and desires are born. He referred to them as “deceitful” and desperately wicked—“incurable.” Then he adds, “Who can understand it?” (v. 9).

My heart is drawn to the deep ruts of rebellion and lust. Try as I might to stay out of these grooves, my tires slip helplessly into them. I make resolutions. I confess my transgressions. I try to live a life pleasing to the Lord, but my heart is drawn toward the ruts of sin. It’s inevitable that the pull of these ditches will win out over my efforts to avoid them.

Why is sin so compelling? Because sin is comfortable. Sin is enjoyable. Sin often feels better than obedience. Its rewards are immediate. Its payoff is instantaneous. Its magnetism is powerful.

For centuries many people have resisted the truth like the ruts in my grandfather’s lane. “People are essentially good,” these people have said. “If you want to find wholeness and happiness and righteousness, look inside. It’s already there. Just reach down, and you’ll find your own salvation.”

Don’t believe this. It’s a lie. My heart is deceitful. Yours is wicked. No one can figure us out. So, what should we do?

God spoke through Jeremiah and gave us the answer: “I, the Lord, examine the mind, I test the heart to give to each according to his way, according to what his actions deserve” (v. 10).

I am a disobedient man. A broken man. I must recognize my sinfulness, ask God to search me, then ask to be forgiven and cleansed. This right relationship with God satisfies my soul with lasting benefits.

And although God’s dividends may not seem like the most satisfying right now, they ultimately lead to eternal life. The ruts lead to death. The right choice seems obvious, doesn’t it?