The Heart: His Words + My Thoughts

“Keep your heart with all diligence;
for out of it are the issues of life”

Proverbs 4:23
Several years ago, I was asked to give an inspirational message for our small church assembly. As I meditated on God’s word and prayed for direction on what the Lord would have me to share, this thought came to me: “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). In studying my Strong’s Concordance for the Hebrew meanings of the words in this scripture, I found it interesting that the word “keep” (5341) means “to guard, protect, or maintain” and the word “diligence” (4929) had the connotation of placing a man on post to guard, such as a prison guard monitoring every encounter. What further caught my attention was the definition for the word “issues” (3444) which implies that the heart is the exit point, or the source of departure for the course our life would take.
I am very visual and various images came to mind that helped symbolize Proverbs 4:23! With my spiritual eye, I understood more clearly one of the roles the Holy Spirit fulfills in our lives. Imagine with me the Holy Spirit standing guard to prevent the enemy from entering areas of our heart despite numerous attempts! The Holy Spirit is that guard that abides forever (John 16: 8 – 13)! If we allow the Holy Spirit to lead and guide us, then we would have fewer issues with the evil thoughts, adulteries, fornications, murders, thefts, covetousness, wickedness, deceit, lasciviousness, an evil eye, blasphemy, pride, foolishness that can proceed from our heart (Mark 7: 21-22)
Multiple scriptures help us see why it is so critical that we guard our heart. In Genesis 6:5, the scriptures record that “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.” This observation of man’s heart grieved the Lord and provoked him to destroy mankind from the face of the earth (Genesis 6:7). After the flood, the scriptures note that “the Lord said in his heart, I will not again curse the ground any more for man’s sake; for the imagination of man’s heart is evil from his youth” (Genesis 8:21). It’s scary to think that even from our youth the thoughts of our hearts are continually evil! With all these maladies, it is no wonder the word exhorts us to guard our hearts!
Reflecting on these scriptures, I began to realize how many times I had failed to heed the warning to guard my heart and felt as if my heart had been penetrated by one of those fiery darts of the wicked (Ephesians 6:16). Unfortunately, there are too many testimonies from others that confirm that I was not Satan’s only target for this type of attack. If it were not for the grace of God, I am sure these reflections would discourage us and cause us to feel that there was no hope for us. I thank God for his mercies and compassions that never fail (Lamentations 3:23) and appreciate the promise that “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).
Since delivering that first message about guarding the heart, I have revisited Proverbs 4:23 on many occasions. Further studies on the heart continue to remind me of how critical the command is because the word of God indicates that our hearts can be obstinate (Deuteronomy 2:30), pained (Psalms 55:4), proud (Proverbs 28:25), fearful (Isaiah 35:4), rebellious (Jeremiah 5:23), foolish (Romans 1:21), and blinded (Ephesians 4:18). I’m encouraged by the challenge to guard my heart because I also know that our hearts can be clean (Psalms 51:10), fixed (Psalms 57:7) and pure (Matthew 5:8). If we can master the task of guarding our heart (and by God’s grace and mercy, we can), we have the assurance that Christ will dwell in our hearts by faith (Ephesians 3:17). This would also help us know that the course of life we take would be pleasing in God’s sight. What a comforting thought!