Legislation proposed in England in the 1700’s: “All women of whatever age, rank, profession, or degree, whether virgin, maid or widow, that shall impose upon, seduce and betray into matrimony any of His Majesty’s subjects, by scents, paints, cosmetic washes, artificial teeth, false hair, Spanish wool, iron stays, hoops, high-heeled shoes or bolstered hips shall incur the penalty of the law now in force against witchcraft and the like misdemeanors and that marriage, upon conviction, shall stand null and void.” [1] This piece of history is comical, yet provides a point concerning deception. The men in this day did not want women to look one way when they were courting…and a different way AFTER the vows had been spoken! This kind of deception is silly because if your getting married based solely on what your eyes see…
There was a rich American visiting a small English town, which was in the depth of poverty. The American lost his dog. He asked to have a notice printed in the local evening paper offering £1000 for its return. Evening came, but no paper appeared. The American waited for some time. Then he went to the newspaper office. There he found no one but the night watchman. “Isn’t the newspaper coming out?” he asked. “I doubt it, sir,” the watchman said. “The whole staff’s out hunting for a lost dog.”
I once read an article by a Jewish Scholar that said he believed in the resurrection of Jesus for the Gentile religion. That is a great example of what an unwilling heart will do. There is plenty of evidence for the resurrection and this historian sees that, yet, because it would mean that he would have to accept the “whole” truth, he manipulates the facts and custom fits his argument to make it satisfactory for himself. Understand what he is saying in reality, Jesus was a good man and even a miracle worker, but He also was a LIAR! Jesus claimed to be God, not one of the gods, or a god for a particular people.
The human heart is a very complicated and multifaceted part of our life… And of course I'm not speaking of the organ that beats in our chest, though it is amazing. I'm talking about that part of us that combines our emotions, our intellect and our will. Our mind seeks to know God, we take that knowledge, mix it with the love in our heart, and that fuels our will to obey the Lord.
