He was despised and rejected by men. Isaiah 53:3
The words “despised” and “rejected” take us into the world of the will. Despised and rejected speak of a decision—a determined refusal.
The process by which we make decisions is:
1. The mind calculates: “We esteemed him not.”
2. The heart directs: “We hid our faces from him.”
3. The will decides: “He was despised and rejected.”
We like to think the head rules the heart, but the reality is that we are ruled by what we love. Your heart rules, and your mind is the servant of your heart. “This is the judgment: the light has come into the world, and people loved the darkness rather than the light” (John 3:19).
The natural state of the human heart is that we are “lovers of self, lovers of money,” and “lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God” (2 Tim. 3:2, 4).
Imagine Mind, Heart, and Will as three different people. Here is how unbelief is formed: Mind makes a calculation and sends a memo to Heart:
“You have trusted me to give you intelligence, and I am happy to serve you in this way. I have taken initial inquiries into faith in Jesus Christ, and I have to inform you that He may pose a threat to certain affections that you cherish.”
What will Heart do when it receives this memo? Heart will send a memo to Will, which says:
“I have received intelligence from Mind to the effect that further engagement with Jesus Christ may bring risk to certain affections we cherish. I am therefore writing to instruct you that you should resist any further movement in the direction of faith.”
This is the normal way we make decisions. The mind calculates, the heart directs, and the will decides. But what if the intelligence given to the heart is faulty? The loss will be very great.
Would you say that your head rules your heart or that your heart rules your head? Why?
