Title: Guard Your Heart
Text: Proverbs 4:20-27
Truth: Godliness is maintained by persistent attention and protection of our attitude toward familiar truth.
Aim: To help them maintain consistent Christian living.
Life ?: How do we maintain consistent Christian living?
INTRODUCTION
Despite the advances in medical science, heart disease has historically been the number one killer in America. I did hear on a news broadcast that this past year more people died of cancer related causes than heart disease. In any given year three quarters to one million Americans die. One-third to one-half of those deaths is heart related.
Every hour this little muscle, the size of the fist, pumps 250 lbs of blood. In one day it will beat 103,000 times and 168,000 miles are traveled through the bloodstream. The heart is the central focus of our physical life. When it fails, we fail. When it hurts, we are in serious trouble.
God is equally concerned about the central focus of our spiritual life. We often refer to that area by calling it our heart. In the Bible the word “heart” is often interchanged with the word “soul” which takes its root from a word that means “to breathe.” So the heart is the part of a man that gives him life—that propels him and supplies him with his get-up-and-go.
Sometimes the heart refers to our emotions, what we feel. Sometimes it refers to our will, the ability to choose. Sometimes it refers to our conscience, the ability to know right from wrong. Sometimes the heart refers to our awareness, that ability that tunes us into reality. And sometimes the heart refers to our mind, our ability to think. When we speak of the heart we often times are referring to our emotions or will or morality or consciousness or thinking. In other words, the person that is looking at me through your eyes, that’s your heart. It is your inner person. Your thoughts, your desires, all that goes in to making you, you. To study the heart is to go to the deepest level where you live. God has many things to say about our heart. In this text, God says guard your heart.
All of us know Christians who at one time were active in the church, but now they have fallen away. Maybe that describes your past and you have returned to active Christian service. What happened to those who fell away? They know better. The answer is in this text. They failed to guard their heart. For you see godliness is maintained by persistent attention and protection of our attitude toward the truth.
How do we maintain consistent Christian living?
I. PERSISTENT ATTENTION TO TRUTH (PROVERBS 4:20-22)
Repeatedly, Solomon calls his son to be mindful of the truths he taught him. He wants his son to be thoughtful and attentive to these truths. Notice 4:1, 10, 20; 5:1, 7.
Success in any endeavor is the result of paying attention to the details and following through. Do you think Bob Stoop’s success, as football coach at OU, is the result of just drawing up a few plays on Saturday morning and rehearsing with his team before they take the field? The reason some Christians fall by the wayside is they stop being attentive to their heart.
So how do we pay attention to the truth so that we maintain godliness? First, we must listen to the truth. A stewardess was frustrated by passengers’ inattentiveness during her what-to-do-in-an-emergency talk at the beginning of each flight, so she changed the wording. She said, “When the mask drops down in front of you, place it over your navel and continue to breathe normally.” Not a single passenger noticed.
Some parents teach their children not to listen. You know the kind. “I’m not telling you again, then I’m going to do something.” That kid knows that until a certain decibel of scream is reached that the parent doesn’t mean it. But here it is not instruction to parents to teach their children to listen, but for children to take responsibility to listen to the instruction of the parent.
Most of you have been in Sunday School this morning. Were you listening to hear God speak the truth to you? We’re half way through the worship service. Have you heard from God yet? Yes, the truth needs to be presented in an appealing manner, but all the effort to hear God’s truth does not rest on the teacher or preacher. You have a responsibility to listen to the truth.
A second way to be attentive to the truth is to remember the truth (v.21). I had a really clever story to tell you to illustrate this point, but I forgot it. You say, “What good is that?” No good at all. That’s my point. What’s the use of learning the truth if it is not remembered?
According to an article in Christian Single magazine, Jan. 1997, the single biggest enemy of memory is poor attention to our surroundings. We lay our keys down and forget where we put them because we were daydreaming when we set them down. You can’t remember if you passed your exit because your mind was on autopilot. You don’t remember the person’s name a minute after they told you because you were thinking about what you’d say next.
One of the ways to increase remembering what you’ve heard is to talk about it. On your way home talk about the Sunday School lesson or a song or this message and it will improve your memory sevenfold of what God revealed to you. Christians who drift away do so because they fail to remember what God has taught them.
I’m saying we should give persistent attention to the truth, but why should we listen and remember the truth? The next verse (22) gives us the reason. The verse begins with the word “for.” The reason for listening and remembering the truth is because there is a reward. The reward is a genuinely enjoyable, invigorated life. The word “life” in Proverbs is describing a quality of life. Nothing adds to the health of body and the enjoyment of life like continually holding before your mind and putting into practice the truths of God’s Word.
Look at 4:18-19. Two paths are pictured. For the person that obeys the truth and continues to live for God, life is like starting out on a journey in the morning. As you continue to live for God you see more and more truth and it leads to greater enjoyment of life. For those who refuse to follow God and obey the truth, they walk in darkness. They live confused lives that lead to harm and sadness.
Do you know who Gallop Poll says are the happiest people in America? It is the 12% of American’s that are deeply committed to the Christian faith. It’s not the Hollywood megastar. It’s not the Donald Trumps who live like royalty. It’s not high achievers. The happiest people in America are the Christians who pay attention to God’s truth. These people listen to God’s truth and remember God’s truth. The result is they experience more and more of the fullness of life that God wants to give.
I’ve have pastored almost 30 years. In that time I’ve found dozens and dozens of Bibles left at the church. I found umbrellas, coats, hats, and even a few kids. But to this day I have never found a man’s wallet. (Pull mine out.) Inside this wallet are my credit card, money, identification, and pictures. A thief could do real harm if he stole most wallets. Therefore, men may leave their Bible at church, but they won’t leave their wallet. They guard it. That’s the way we are to pay attention to the truth God gives us. Listen to God’s Word. Remember God’s Word. Live out God’s Word. That’s how we maintain godliness.
How do we maintain consistent Christian living?
II. PROTECT OUR ATTITUDE (PROVERBS 4:23-27)
Solomon tells his son that his most important duty is to guard his heart. A parent’s job is to make clear the things that are important. Study hard in school, be careful who you pick for friends, but what have you taught your children is the single most important thing in life? Solomon tells his son that the most important thing is for his son to guard his heart.
In those days cities had walls. It often surrounded the castle. At the center of the castle would be the citadel. Food, water, weapons, and other necessities would be stored at the citadel. When the city was attacked or laid siege, if they had protected those supplies at the citadel they could survive. Should the enemy capture that stockpile, the city would fall. Solomon is telling his son that if his heart falls, he will fall. If he keeps his heart for God, he will continue to stand for God. The inner life of a person affects everything about their life for good or ill. This is why it is the most important concern.
The reason why the heart, the inner person, is so important is because it determines the quality of life you will experience. A wellspring is a spring where the water freely bubbles up out of the earth. Outside of Woodward is Boiling Springs State Park. There is a spring of fresh water that continuously bubbles up through the sand. In ancient times people organized their lives around such springs. With our technology that is not so important to us. A few years back I was in Phoenix, Arizona. At the time 100,000 people a year were moving to its suburbs. I asked the Director of Missions if they had a problem with a shortage of water since it was the desert. He told me that water was the least of their worries. Not so in Solomon’s day. They organized their life around water. They couldn’t stray far from water.
Guard your heart. Guard your thoughts, your desires, your emotions, and the choices you make for or against God. Why? Because those things are going to spill out in the way you live, and they will determine whether your life is meaningful or miserable. In other words, what happens inside you is more important than what happens outside of you.
Do you know how a worm gets into an apple? If you see a hole in an apple, you know the worm has exited the apple. An insect deposits an egg in the blossom. The fruit develops and the egg, already inside the apple, develops and eats its way out.
Why do some Christians fall away or are inconsistent in their Christian growth? They let sin remain lodged in their emotions, thoughts, or desires. They are not diligent to guard the inner life.
How do I protect my attitude, my inner man for God?
First, guard your speech. I mean by that our habits of thought. Jesus said this about our speech in Matthew 12:33-35 (Living Bible):
33 "A tree is identified by its fruit. If a tree is good, its fruit will be good. If a tree is bad, its fruit will be bad. 34 You brood of snakes! How could evil men like you speak what is good and right? For whatever is in your heart determines what you say. 35 A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart.
Bruce Barton said, “For good or ill, your conversation is your advertisement. Every time you open your mouth you let me look into your mind.”
There’s a radio ad that says, “People judge you by the words you use.” Of course, they mean they judge your intelligence. If your use five syllable words you may impress people with your intelligence. If I said, “We ain’t got none of that here but don’t nobody know it.” You might judge me as lacking intelligence. The radio ad is correct. People do judge you by the words you use.
A little boy was watching a pastor do some repairs on a picket fence. The little fellow didn’t say anything. He just watched. The pastor thought that he’d leave shortly but he stayed. Finally, the pastor said, “Son, is there something you want?” “No,” the boy replied, “I just wanted to hear what a preacher said when he hits his thumb.”
Our words reveal our habit of thought. If we have a habit of vulgar thinking, our words will reveal that. If we habitually think ill of people, our words will reveal that. If we habitually think the best of people, our words will show. Our words reveal whether we consistently guard our thought life or not. Our words make a huge impact on the quality of life we enjoy.
How do I protect my attitude, my inner man?
Secondly, guard your eyes (v.25). It refers to your goals in life.
The word “gaze” literally means “eyelids.” The metaphor we use is “unblinking.” What we mean is a focused look. What are you to look at unblinking? It is the path that is laid out before you. God has a path He wants you to walk. You come to a decision. There are two paths to take. God wants you to keep focused on the path He has for you. Our goal in life is live the way He wants us to live. So each day we choose to follow God’s ways in our behavior, our thoughts, and ambitions. If we do that long enough, then we will be able to say what Paul said to Timothy in 2 Tim. 4:7-8: I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith. 8 Now there is in store for me the crown of righteousness, which the Lord, the righteous Judge, will award to me on that day — and not only to me, but also to all who have longed for his appearing.
We all face many choices. Some are big choices that concern our marriage or our children or our job, and our church. With eyes wide open ask the Lord, “How will this effect my relationship with you?” The most important goal in life is to become like Christ. The greatest goal in life is not a comfortable retirement, a healthy body, high achieving kids, or a good marriage. Guard against anything that would distract you from becoming more like Christ.
Why do some Christians fall away? They’d rather recreate than pursue Christ on Sunday morning at church. They’d rather pout than forgive or repent of sinful responses. They’d rather take it easy on themselves than impose the discipline of Bible study, prayer, and witnessing. They don’t make guarding the path to Christlikeness the most important commitment in their life.
How do I protect my heart? Guard your speech--habits of thought. Guard your eyes--goals in life.
Thirdly, guard your feet. Have a plan of action.
Derek Kidner says that Solomon is telling his son that the succession of steps, by which vision is turned into action, demands practical planning. Remove obstacles to your journey by making the path level so you don’t stumble. Stay out of those areas that will bog you down. Know where you are going so you don’t get detoured into things that waste your time and energy. To do that you need a plan of action.
One of the biggest benefits that a plan does is improve decision-making. Do you have a plan to read your Bible? Do you have a plan to pray daily? Do you have a plan to get to church on Sunday and to get here on time? When the girls were small we’d find matching socks and lay out the dresses on Saturday night. Does that communicate to anyone?
John Piper is a well-known Christian author and pastor. He tells about a plan that he says has changed his life. Suppose you read about 250 words a minute and you resolved to devote just 15 minutes a day to some serious theological reading to deepen your understanding of the Christian faith. In one year you will have spent 5,475 minutes reading. Multiply that times 250 words/minute and you get 1,368,750 words/year. Most books are 300-400 pages. Stays with me, most book pages have around 350 words/page. Divide that into 1,368,750 words and you have 3910 pages. This means that reading at 250 words/minute for 15 minutes a day you could read 20 average size books a year. You do that year-after-year and you would become an expert in whatever field you choose to read in. All it takes is a plan.
Conclusion
Godliness is maintained by persistent attention and protection of our attitude toward the truth.
Nuclear submarines consist of some of the most amazing technology on the planet. These incredible military vessels can stay underwater for ninety days, but every ninety days the submarine must resurface to maintain proper alignment with the North Star. While underwater, the submarine’s navigational system is affected by the earth’s magnetic forces. Because the submarines carry missiles of mass destruction, they must pay close attention to keeping the navigational equipment aligned to the true reference point of the North Star (Chip Ingram, I Am With You Always, p. 217).
We’re like that submarine in that we cannot perform at our highest level or complete our mission without maintaining proper alignment with our God. Your heart is the navigational equipment that keeps you on track with God. Guard your heart for it is the wellspring of life.
Prayer
The hymn asks that You would bind our hearts to You because we are prone to wander. There have been Christians far better than us that eventually drifted into the far country. We recognize that this message is Your way of preventing that from happening to us. Thank you for being so gracious toward us.
Holy Spirit, reveal to us our heart. What have our words exposed about our heart? What’s our real goal in life? Give us a plan to finish our journey and complete our course. Do not let us traffic in unlived truth.
Savior, may the lost know You this morning. Give them the courage to step out and request you to be their God. Compel them. Convict them. Convert them to You.
In Christ the Savior’s name. Amen.
Invitation
Jack Nicklaus is considered by most as the greatest golfer who has ever played the game. Once, when he was at the top of his game, he quit playing for 30 days to correct something with his game. He couldn’t correct it. He tried but to no success. Then he went back to his coach that taught him golf—and his game straightened out. He went on to win more major tournaments than any golfer in history.
What’s repentance? It is going back to the Lord and the cross. It’s telling Him you are absolutely dependent on Him to change and be forgiven. When the Prodigal Son came back home he didn’t just get a ring, a robe and shoes. The greatest thing he got back was his father. The Lord himself is waiting for anyone this morning that is willing to repent and put his trust in Him. That’s when you will really experience life.
