Guard Your Heart - Proverbs 4:23

Seek God Together

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Today we will read Proverbs 4:23 which says, “Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.”

This could’ve said a lot of things. “Stay trim, for it is the source of life.” “Save for retirement, for it is the source of life.” “Win friends and influence people, for it is the source of life.” Nope. Guard your heart. What is the heart? We know what it feels like to have a broken heart or to pull on our heart-strings. The heart is the seat of being. It’s more than our mind. Perhaps it’s all in our brain, but maybe more, at the least it certainly transcends our conscious thoughts. The heart is the most important part of you.

The heart is the source of life. Not to push the metaphor too far, but it doesn’t even say, “Guard your relationship with God, for it is the source of life.” No no. This proverb is imploring us to carefully cultivate the core of our being, to guard and protect, because IT is the source of our life. To be careless with our heart, to allow just anything in, is to forfeit the life we were meant for.

Perhaps we appeal to God for that which He has equipped us to deal with already. Have you ever noticed that if you yield to a particular vice, look at what you ought not, say what you know you shouldn’t, do what you know is forbidden…you can seek forgiveness. You can make amends. You can pay the piper, but you can’t forget. How I wish we could forget. But it’s a cold truth of being. Our minds work as designed - too well even. The heart knows.

We ask God to forgive which He does in a flat second. And forgiveness is His to give. But to guard the heart is the task He’s given us, and He doesn’t seem to do it for us. It is our burden. It may seem too heavy a burden but just consider…you have power to guard, and shape the orientation of your heart. It’s your choice. Rome wasn’t built in a day, neither is the source of your life. But if God has empowered you with the spark of life, and calls you to actively guard your heart, then you’re capable. The question is, what do you want your heart to look like? What will you allow in?

“God I want to honor the life You’ve given. I need to take a more active role in guarding my own heart. I won’t ignore the task given me. Give me wisdom, and vision, as I participate with you in living.”