07.01.2020
IBC Admin
In Proverbs 4:23 we read that we are to “Guard our hearts above all else, for out of it is the well spring of life.” (NIV) The ESV reads this way, “Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it flows the springs of life.”
The idea of the heart in the Bible has to do with our affections, our emotions and what we care deeply about. Since from our hearts flows our very lives, the way we live, likened to the springs of life, we are to guard them or as the ESV tells keep them with vigilance.
The idea of keeping, guarding, diligence and vigilance is a reminder that we have personal responsibility to be very careful about what we value and give our lives to . The writer of Proverbs warns us that since our very lives flow out of our "hearts," then when our affections are misdirected from the things of God, our hearts can become a source of toxicity rather than life.
The vigilance has to do with looking to the Lord for what is important in life and how God can direct what we give our hearts to. If our hearts are full of the things of God, then from them will flow love, kindness, peace, goodness, joy, self-control and faith. The Apostle Paul in Galatians 5:22-23 tells us that these are also the "fruit of the Spirit" or fruits from God Himself.
It is through the Word of God that we gain the ability to see how our hearts respond in the places God has put us. The places of family and relationships, what our thought life is like, what are the attitudes towards God are like and how we respond to a broken world. These are just there to reveal what the true condition of our hearts are like.
If in the area of relationships we see more conflict than peace, most likely God is not at the center. If in the arena of money, work and business, there is more worry and anxiety than a sense of God's purpose and provision, than God is most likely on the periphery. Whether it is our thought life, our attitude towards God and church, and whatever our lives are filled with, we are to guard our hearts that out of them may flow the things of God.
As we look ahead to 2020, let us look to where God wants us to be, what His word teaches. As we go to the Word of God, which is "sharper than any double edged sword," then we can have confidence it will "pierce to the division of our souls and spirit... discerning the very thoughts and intentions of the heart." (Heb 4:12-13) When we understand God's will and mind in every area of life, then we will gain the ability to understand our heart's true condition.
God's destination for us is that we would be transformed into the image of Christ (Rom 8:29) The joy in our journey here on earth is truly discovered in our journey of change and transformation towards the things of God. An embittered soul is one that is shrinking away from God instead of growing in Him. A despairing soul is without hope for the future, because the heart's affections lie in another place but God Himself.
But the good news as we look to 2020 is that God wants us as believers in Christ to lead us to hope, love, joy and peace. It is a journey of transformation and it is what makes life worth living. Make it your goal 2020 to pursue God first, to give time to Him in prayer and His word, that your mind may be renewed and your heart may be truly a "well spring of life."