"Guard your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life."
Proverbs 4:23
With this verse he simply asked the challenging question:
"What are you doing to guard your heart?"
David quoted Charles Bridges (I only managed half the quote):
"If the citadel be taken, the whole town must surrender, if the heart be seized, the whole man - the affections, desires, motives, pursuits - all will be yielded up." Showing us that the heart is central to the way we live & in our walk with Jesus.
Prayer Solitude Silence Study Meditation Fasting Joy Simplicity Confession
David pointed to the verses which follow Proverbs 4:23 as outlining some body parts that affect our hearts & areas in which we need to be careful.
Proverbs 4:24 - Our Speech
"Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you."
What we say matters, Jesus tells us in Luke 6:45 that "out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Our speech & words are a good reflection of the state of our hearts.
James 3:6 tells us that "The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body" - inappropriate words corrode the heart.
In closing this point David pointed to James 3:9 "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God" showing how we so often act the hypocrite as we sing praise to God & act the Christian, yet with the next breath we slander others who are made in the image of God. A confusing but very real aspect of our lives.
Proverbs 4:25 - Our Eyes
"Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you."
Where our treasure is, that is where our hearts are, an Irish proverb carries this well when it says "What fills the eye, fills the heart." We are so often consumed with looking at the stuff around us in this world, focusing on material things. Or in the midst of the storm we tend to only see the waves, rain & wind, however Scripture tells us to fill our eyes with greater things.
2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us to fix our eyes on invisible things, things of the Kingdom of God, things of greater value & worth.
Hebrews 12:2 exhorts us to fix our eyes on Jesus the author & perfecter of our faith.
We need to see the bigger picture & maintaining a focus on Jesus is an essential christian practice.
Proverbs 4:26-27 - Our Feet
"Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil."
Our feet do not sin, but they can lead us into sinful places, dangerous places & places of temptation. We need to be careful about where we go.
David listed some ways that the Bible would exhort us to walk: Deuteronomy 5:33 - In the way God commands us Psalm 89:15 - In the Light of God's face Isaiah 2:5 - In the Light of the Lord 2 John 6 - According to God's commands 1 John 2:6 - The same way Jesus walked
"What are you doing to guard your heart?"
David quoted Charles Bridges (I only managed half the quote):
"If the citadel be taken, the whole town must surrender, if the heart be seized, the whole man - the affections, desires, motives, pursuits - all will be yielded up." Showing us that the heart is central to the way we live & in our walk with Jesus.
Some beneficial habits in guarding our hearts:
David pointed to the verses which follow Proverbs 4:23 as outlining some body parts that affect our hearts & areas in which we need to be careful.
Proverbs 4:24 - Our Speech
"Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you."
What we say matters, Jesus tells us in Luke 6:45 that "out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks." Our speech & words are a good reflection of the state of our hearts.
James 3:6 tells us that "The tongue is set among our members, staining the whole body" - inappropriate words corrode the heart.
In closing this point David pointed to James 3:9 "With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God" showing how we so often act the hypocrite as we sing praise to God & act the Christian, yet with the next breath we slander others who are made in the image of God. A confusing but very real aspect of our lives.
Proverbs 4:25 - Our Eyes
"Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you."
Where our treasure is, that is where our hearts are, an Irish proverb carries this well when it says "What fills the eye, fills the heart." We are so often consumed with looking at the stuff around us in this world, focusing on material things. Or in the midst of the storm we tend to only see the waves, rain & wind, however Scripture tells us to fill our eyes with greater things.
2 Corinthians 4:18 tells us to fix our eyes on invisible things, things of the Kingdom of God, things of greater value & worth.
Hebrews 12:2 exhorts us to fix our eyes on Jesus the author & perfecter of our faith.
We need to see the bigger picture & maintaining a focus on Jesus is an essential christian practice.
Proverbs 4:26-27 - Our Feet
"Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil."
Our feet do not sin, but they can lead us into sinful places, dangerous places & places of temptation. We need to be careful about where we go.
David listed some ways that the Bible would exhort us to walk:
