PROVERBS 4:23 – Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
THEME OF THE DAY. DOING THE HARD WORK OF HEART WORK. The hardest work in the Christian life is heart work. Though our lives have been radically changed by Jesus Christ and God has given us a new heart to know Him, there are three truths in today’s scripture every Christian is required to put into their lives if they are to maintain a right and spiritually healthy heart before God.
First, the heart is the main thing in the Christian life. The scripture reads “for from it (the heart) flow the springs or issues of life.” Friends, when it comes to walking with God the heart is everything. And the heart is not just those feelings we call emotions or affections. In the Bible, the heart is defined as the whole of our being. It includes our affections, our minds, and our wills. When we say, “I love you, Lord, with all my heart” we are including our thinking, our emotions, and the exercise of our wills. The ramifications of this truth are significant. To love God with all our hearts mean we are not harboring or delighting in sinful thoughts or lusts; not allowing our affections to be attached more to something or someone other than God; and not exercising our wills to do what displeases Him, go where He would not approve, and associate with those who would draw us away from Him. If we allow any of those things of the heart to drift from Him, then the main thing in the Christian life, our hearts, are no longer on the main thing – the Christ who is our Christian life.
Next, Solomon tells us keeping our hearts is a commandment – “keep your heart”. Even though we have new hearts given by the Spirit, the remaining sin in us will fight tooth and nail to drag us back into old habits of sin to include the many sins of the flesh lurking within, ready to sprout up at any time. And how will they resurface in our lives? Neglect. Stop fighting sin. Stop obeying the commands “be holy” and “guard your heart” and we will poison the heart with sin quickly. All it takes to have a cold, worldly, and sin-captured heart is nothing. Just stop keeping it by lacking obedience to the Word and the world will take it over like weeds in an unkempt garden. And that leads to Solomon’s final word on doing the hard work of heart work.
To keep the heart from being shaped by the world and sin, there must be great effort from us. Solomon writes, “Keep your heart will all vigilance.” And this call to strenuous spiritual effort and watchfulness is constant. Do nothing spiritually and the drift has begun to a backslidden condition. Be spiritually passive by neglecting the Word, prayer, and church, and our hearts will be ensnared with worldliness and sin. Remember, an unguarded heart leads to an unholy heart.
The whole of the Christian life is about the heart. God’s heart was and is on us as seen through His Son. And God’s pursuit of us for salvation is for Him to create a people whose hearts are on Him. And to have a heart on Him demands the hard work of heart work ensuring it is stayed on Him. May He help us do this work for His glory and our heartfelt delight in Him.
PRAYER: “Father, please let me never drop my guard when it comes to watching over my heart.”
QUOTE: “For the Christian, the heart has become the throne for the Lord Jesus. Self has been removed.”