A Heart That Devises Wicked Imaginations

A HEART THAT DEVISES WICKED IMAGINATIONS

“And GOD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5)

Men judge our thoughts by our works and actions, but God judges our words and works by our thoughts. All vice arises from imagination? A man has neither strength nor opportunity always to act, but he may always think, and imagination can supply the place of action. God's gift of imagination is precious. An imaginative mind can be of great benefit to people, if the spirit is clean. God has blessed the nations of the earth with inventions, ideas that He gave to men and women who had imagination (also a gift from God). But that same gift of an imagination can be twisted to become one of the seven things (a heart that devises wicked imaginations) most despised by God when it belongs to a person with a darkened heart (Proverbs 6:18). For a wicked man to give birth to even more wickedness in this wicked world through his imagination is for him to despise the very goodness of God.

It was Lucifer's imagination that led him to a state of revolt in heaven, causing him to turn against God and refrain from following God. Lucifer, the devil, began to see himself exalted-that's imagination! Lucifer said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God ... “(Isaiah 14:13). This means that he had power and authority in some places, but not at the throne of God. At the throne he was a servant. His goal was to exalt his throne above others. This is self-exaltation. That is the power of imagination. The devil determined he was not satisfied with his position even though he was great and beautiful. Arrogantly, Satan said, "I will exalt my throne above the stars of God.'' He not only willed to ascend into heaven, but sought to exalt his throne above the stars of God. This means there are thrones in heaven, places of strength and power. Today, this imagination of rebellion, promoted by the devil, can be a yoke of bondage to humans.

Evil imagination is a yoke; it is a burden and it is a sorrow. In Isaiah 10:27, "And it shall come to pass in that day, that his burden shall be taken away from off thy shoulder, and his yoke from off thy neck, and the yoke shall be destroyed because of the anointing.'' God will use the power of the Holy Spirit to destroy the vain imaginations of the devil and He will deliver us from all evil thinking, anything, everything, whatever-God will set us free by His mighty power! The Bible states that evil imagination is a yoke, not something nice, not something easy, not something good. Evil imaginations are a hindrance to a successful life.

"For as he thinks in his heart, so is he ... " (Proverbs 23:7). As a man thinks! “The thoughts of the wicked are an abomination to the LORD: but the words of the pure are pleasant words” (Proverbs 15:26). Imagination is always hungry. Imagination is always reaching out. The apostle Paul, speaking to the church in Corinth through the power of the Holy Spirit, said, "I fear, lest by any means, as the serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, so your minds should be corrupted from the simplicity that is in Christ."( 2 Corinthians 11:3). Here Paul was talking straight to their imagination. The devil who deceived Eve would also corrupt their imagining powers-their minds. The serpent beguiled Eve through his subtlety, deceiving her mind, that her mind be corrupted from the simplicity that is in God.

Have you ever seen some new wickedness and wondered, "What kind of mind came up with that?" David warned his son Solomon that there were people in the world who could not rest at night unless they had conceived of some evil and done it. "They sleep not," the wise king said to his son, "except they have done mischief, and their sleep is taken away unless they cause some to fall" (Proverbs 4:16). There are also men and women, both young and old, who are so accustomed to doing evil that they cannot sleep at night unless they have done something that displeases God. God said that sinners such as this can-do good no more than a leopard can change his spots (Jeremiah 13:23). They have become addicted to sin; they are stimulated by the thought of some new way to sin, some new perverseness, or some new evil scheme. When they were young, they would not listen to their teachers, and they did not refuse the evil path while they could. Now, for them, the way of peace and righteousness is forgotten, for God has turned them over to love the darkness. They are cursed, and they do not even know it.