Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it”.
Are you someone who is good at following instructions? I have to admit that when it comes to DIY I tend to get a bit impatient if I see pages and pages of detailed steps to follow. This probably explains why some of my “creations” don’t always end up looking how they are supposed to! If I had only taken my time and done as was suggested I would have had much better results! When we find instructions in scripture it is even more important that we take time to understand exactly what is being said. There are too many times when we just pick out a verse but don’t seek to understand it in a wider context and then it can fail to have the impact that the Lord intended.
One of the important principles to remember is the law of first mention. So where does the Lord first talk about the heart? “The Lord saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” Gen 6:5. When man is left to his own devices the intentions of his heart turn towards evil. The Lord has seen throughout history the devastating effects of man turning from his ways and following his sinful desires. That is why the Lord gives these specific instructions. He loves us so much that he doesn’t want us to fall into any of the traps of the enemy and reap the consequences of bad decisions in our lives. He desires to see us walking into all that he has promised and living lives where we can reach our full potential so how do we ensure that we can guard or keep our hearts?
In today’s verse the Lord is telling us about the importance of guarding our hearts, but in the preceding verses He shows us how to do this. ‘My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart’. Proverbs 4:21 In order for us to guard our hearts we need to ensure that we have made the word a priority in our lives. We do this when we purposefully take time to listen to it, when we ponder it, when we keep it at the forefront of our minds. When we fill our minds with God’s word we will see good results. Not only will we find life- true life, not mere existence but we will actually get to thrive. In fact in verse 22 we see how this will affect every part of us including our physical healing. ‘For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh’.
You see God’s word is powerful. We know from John 1 that Jesus himself is the, ‘Word become flesh’. As we read the word we get to commune with Jesus and his life flows in us.
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Unshakeable Hope Series – Exchange Church Belfast 2021