PROVERBS 4: 20-27
GUARD YOUR HEART
[1 Timothy 4: 8]
Ever try painting a room without spattering paint on yourself? Or playing ball without getting dirty? Or washing the car without getting wet? It's hard, isn't it? How about staying pure and undefiled living life among sinners and not getting spotted (Jas 1:27). How can you do it?
The ingredients of life come into us and flow out from us through various channels. Three of them are given special attention here; the mouth, the eyes, and the feet. All of these streams of life come from one fountain, the heart. The godly life, and even the disciplined life, begins with the heart. The heart is where concentrated effort needs to be given. Eventually the mouth, eyes, and feet will reveal what is in the heart. If we will carefully observe ourselves, it is not difficult to find where we need to place additional attention.
I. FINDING LIFE AND HEALTH, 20-22.
II. THE SPRING OF LIFE, 23-27.
This is a wonderful paragraph for us to use for a personal spiritual inventory to see if we are really living in obedience to God. Verse 20 begins this section with the wisest of father's commanding his beloved son's total attention and concentration. My Son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.
Whatever enters my ear has opportunity to influence my mind, my heart and my decisions, so I'd best be careful what I listen to. We must listen for God's Voice if we would hear words of eternal wisdom. Words of wisdom are God's vehicles to transport divine counsel to us. The reception and action upon God's wisdom by man is thus essential to our earthy and eternal well-being.
The first method of gaining God's words of wisdom is given in verse 20. There must be an attentive mind and ear. What worth are words of divine wisdom to us if we are inattentive or if our ear is tuned to worldly sounds or other stations of input? To the man that has turned a deaf ear even the most precious and sublime message makes no impression.
[WORKING AT LISTENING] Do you want to learn to listen? Here is a plan.
1) Start with the determination that nothing is going to stop you. Like the naval message, tell yourself, "Now hear this."
2) Overcome your listening inertia. Remember you have a natural tendency not to listen. You must determined to focus and pay attention.
3) Concentrate; give your undivided attention to whoever is speaking. Watch the way the subject then begins to open up to you.
4) Fight distractions. Refuse to pay attention to movement or sounds that prevent you from listening.
5) Don't let prejudices or emotional reactions get in the way. The speaker may be saying something that you need to hear even though it goes against your generally accepted ideas. Hear the conversation before judging it.
A good listener is relaxed. He leans slightly forward the speaker, his eyes focused on him, in an interested coaxing manner. Every aspect of the listening one says, "Tell me more."
Watch your speaker improve as he becomes aware that people are paying attention, wanting to hear. You'll see him drop his defenses and his confidence will become more apparent.
A good listener is on a mission. He wants to hear what God has to say and every power of the body and mind is focused on the listening task.
Verse 21 teaches the beloved son to get God's words into his heart and in his sight. Do not let them depart from your sight; keep them in the midst of your heart"
The second method of gaining God's words of wisdom is there must be the steady look. The eyes of the soul must be consistently fixed upon God's Word. The principles of wisdom must be the grand realities for to which the soul perseveringly looks.
Third, they must be enclosed within the heart. The words of wisdom are to be held captive within the heart (Ps. 119:10). They are not simply to be a memory of the mind but are to be abiding principles within the heart that continually press us to deepen our spiritual and moral nature.
If God's words of wisdom are in the heart, verse 22 teaches that they will bring life and healing. For they are life to those who find them, and health to all their body.
Notice again the blessings that come to those who hold to the precepts of wisdom. "They are life." They are the invigorating elements of the soul for those who find, attain, produce or procure them. They are the incorruptible seed witch causes inner life and gives meaning and vitality to existence.
Not only are they life, they are also health. Life without health can be frustrating to say the least. Thus these principles give life to the soul by supplying the nutriment and stimulating the activities that ensure health. Health of all kinds: intellectual, moral, physical, and spiritual. For they are interdependent. Diseases of the body reach to the mind. Te depressed or weakened mind affects the body. Immorality diseases both body and mind.
The underlying concept of the word health here is the needed strength to overcome bodily fluctuation. It indicates a constant strengthening that continually restores the body and soul. Nothing keeps our soul and body in a healthier state than when we keep before our eyes and carry in our heart the good doctrines. They give us true health to walk the way of life.
II. THE SPRING OF LIFE, 23-27.
Since from the heart come the wondrous surges of budding life, it must be protected. Verse 23, Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.
The heart (labe) in Solomon's sayings is never a reference to the organ in the chest that pumps blood. It refers to our "inner man," our whole inner being. It is that part of us that constitutes the center of our mind, will and emotions. The heart is pictured as the source from which life erupts. It is where the releases of life emerge rise and is thus a frequent topic in scripture (90 times in Proverbs).
The heart of the natural man is corrupt. Natural man has lost the ability to totally control himself. He is the victim and often the instrument of capricious thoughts, lawless impulses, and wanton desires: "The imaginations of man's heart are only and continually evil" (Gen.). "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately evil" (Jer. ). Jesus said, "out of the heart proceeds evil thoughts, murders, adulteries." You can be double hearted (Ps. 12:2); hard hearted (Prov 28:04); proud hearted (21:4); unbelieving (Heb 3:12); cold (Mt 24:12); and unclean (Ps 51:10). The common problem of living without inner restraint, without concern for protection from the adversary, being insensitive to God's leading are the result of an unguarded heart.
This verse in Hebrew begins with "more than all else" or "above all else." This is the literal translation of with all diligence. By so beginning the sentence, it makes it emphatic. If you have ability to do one thing with your day, do this, watch over your heart. You will do it successfully if you set about it with conviction.
The heart is to be watched closely (nah-tzaar) because there is great danger that it will be turned away. There are so many attractive influences, so many seductive forces. Since turning away could be catastrophic, it must be confined or closely observed, protected, preserved, or guarded. Ps 139:23 says "Search me, 0 God, and know my heart."
[HOSTILE HEART] Beware the hostile heart. That's the warning of Dr. Redford Williams from Duke University's Behavioral Medicine Research Center. He has been saying for years that having a hostile personalities can kill us- most -often by heart disease but also by injuries and accidents. Anger speeds the heart rate, raises blood pressure, and disrupts the coronary arteries.
Some indicators of a hostile heart are impatience with delays, mistrust of co-workers, annoyance with the habits of family members or mends, and a persistent need to have the last word in arguments or to get even when wronged.
Our wise heavenly Father issues the same call to us about His life-giving words recorded for us in the Bible. The transformation of a hostile heart begins as we listen to God, meditate on His Word, and allow Him to alter our behavior and speech. It's a prescription I need to follow each day. How about you? Let God's Word fill you mind, rule your heart, and guide your tongue.
The reason for this diligence is because from it flows the springs of life. The heart is the source of life, the root, the fountain, the spring of your being. Whatever the heart concentrates upon, the ears will hear, the eyes will see, the feet will go, and the hands will do. If the fountain is not pure, all the streams of life will be polluted. The heart is a precious garden that must be cultivated and care for or life will be overrun by thorns, thistles, weeds and vermin.
Look at all the trouble you go through to keep your clothes cleaned, pressed, and mended. Is not your heart worthy of greater attention than those things Is it not worth the care you give your house, your money, the care you give your car?
Keep it from getting defiled, stained, poisoned by evil. Keep it like a precious garden. Pull out the weeds, nourish the word planted by the Lord. Keep it diligently for it is like a garden reclaimed from the wilderness and wants to return to its natural state. "As a man thinketh in his heart so is he."
[KEEP THE SPRINGS PURE] The FAMILY'S WATER SUPPLY came from a spring just a few feet from the house. The pure, cold, sweet water bubbled up through a large pipe about the size of a barrel that had been sunk in the ground. One morning two huge frogs were found in the spring. No one wanted to drink from the water until the frogs had been removed, and the water had been allowed to flush over the sides for the rest of the day. Everyone wanted to make sure it was clean and pure again.
You can make a parable out of the incident. Those frogs could represent bad thoughts, and the spring is man's heart. If our thought life is evil, the words and deeds that flow from within will be contaminated. Jesus said that the blasphemous statements made by His enemies revealed their inner selves. They spoke the way they did because they had allowed evil thoughts to take control of their minds.
How important it is to guard what comes into the mind! We become what we think! If we permit hateful thoughts to remain, we will become cruel and heartless. If we let in lustful thoughts, we will become immoral. But when we dwell on lovely, pure, and unselfish thoughts, what flows from our mouths and comes forth in our conduct will be pleasing to God and a blessing to others.
So keep the spring pure! If we pollute the well spring, the infection will spread; before long, hidden appetites will become open sin and public shame.
The demand for pure language out of the heart is found in verse 24. "put away from you a deceitful mouth and put devious lips far from you."
The first of three streams that flow out of an ill-kept heart is a deceitful mouth. To know what is going on in the heart simply listen to what the mouth is saying. Jesus taught that whatever is in the heart will eventually come out of the mouth (Mt. 12:33f). Man must not only be redeemed,..he must be sanctified. We do not have cleared ground to build our Christian life upon. If a man would make his body a temple of God, the first effort of the builder is to clear away the rubbish. The things the heart needs to put away, first is a deceitful mouth and devious lips.
The power of speech is one of the grand gifts that distinguish man from animal. Where would we be without our ability to communicate? While we use the gift we should use it for the purposes the Giver intended it. God's children must be careful to have "sound speech that is beyond reproach" (Titus 2:8) Speech that is gracious and "seasoned with salt" (Col. 4:6). Our speech should be poured through the filter of a pure heart if it is to be what God would have it be.
The next organ affected by the heart is the eyes in verse 25. Let your eyes look directly ahead, and let your gaze be fixed straight in front of you.
Another outlet of your heart's fountain is your eyes. In order to guard our heart we must focus our eyes on the Lord. What is before your eyes? Outlook determines outcome. Abraham was the friend of God because he walked by faith and "looked for a city... whose builder and maker is God" (Heb. 11: 10). Lot became a friend of the world because he walked by sight and moved toward the wicked city of Sodom (Gen.13:10, 12). Everybody has some vision or goal before them that helps to determine their values, actions, and plans. We would all do well to imitate David who said, "I will set no wicked thing before my eyes" (Ps. 101:3). The writer of Psalms 119(:37) prayed, "Turn my eyes from worthless things" (NIV). Look to Jesus in faith as you walk the path of life. If you look back or around (Mt. 14:30) you will be detoured. [Wiersbe, Be Skillful. Victor Books, 1995, 45] Don't let your eyes longingly look upon forbidden things. Let your outer and inward eye be single and focused on God.
Much mischief is done when people begin to look aside instead of straight before them: A MANUFACTURER GLANCES to the side one day and sees a neighbor making as much by a lucky speculation-as he has made by the regular operating of his business in a year. He too goes for the prize and in the speculation, the capital which sustained his business has disappeared. His legitimate creditors are defrauded and his family's estate ruined.
Deviations from the straight life have become so frequent and so great that only those who find God's light and path even know where the straight life can be found anymore.
When the eye is focused clearly on God, the whole body is full of light (Mt. 6:22f) If the focus of our life is the Lord God, then a life of integrity can be lived. You'll be true in deed and heart to your spouse, honest in your business dealings, a good worker, a good husband or wife, father or mother.
My father told me that if a FARMER KEEPS HIS EYES on a distant object like a fence post while he's plowing, he'll make a straight furrow. So I tested the principle when I mowed my lawn. Sure enough, my first cut was a straight swath of new mown turf.
If you can plow a straight furrow or mow in a straight line by keeping your eyes fixed on a. distant object, surely the principle should also be true of life--especially if the object on which you fix your gaze is "the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Heb 13: )
Another part of your being the heart directs is your feet or your way of life. Verse 26 states that you must watch your step if you would guard your heart. Watch the path of your feet, and all your ways will be established.
You must watch (carefully consider) your step if you would guard your heart. The Hebrew word translated watch or ponder means "to weigh" or "to make level." It is from the same root word as "scales" (16:11). In his final speech before he drank the hemlock, Socrates said, "The unexamined life is not worth living."
The best time to ponder a path, or evaluate a way of life, is not at the end or even in the middle, but at the beginning or as close to it as you become awakened to your need. Those who rush headlong down any path find they take many wrong forks.
If you walk the right path, the Lord's path, the promise is that all your ways will be established. Look at what activities you are presently part of and see if you are honoring Christ in them. If not, forsake them and follow activities where you can honor Christ; and you will be assured of His assistance in all your activities.
Watching your path has the most value if you look at it from the vantage point of God, when you view it from--God's viewpoint. He sees the beginning and the end. It is most wise to follow His guidance and take the path of His leading. This straight and narrow way will lead us to eternal life. Man is a vessel on a wondrous voyage; while his will and faith are the propelling force, his heart and thoughts hold the rudder.
Verse 27 instructs us to continually walk the pilgrim pathway. "Do not turn to the right nor to the left; turn your foot from evil"
When Christ reigns in our hearts our feet will walk in His ways. Jesus said in Matthew 7:14 that "the gate is small and the way is narrow that leads to life and few are those who find it." Isaiah 30:21 says, "Your ears will hear a word behind you, "This is the way, walk in it," whenever you turn to the right or to the left" (NAS).
Virtue walks a straight path. Christian integrity leads us on a direct route to the gates of Heaven, and turning off it would be wrong. Take care, for there are by-paths of temptation in every direction.
[RETURN TO THE RIGHT PATH] In one section of John Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress, Christian and Hopeful are walking the King's Highway to the Celestial City. The path, once smooth and easy, becomes rough and hard. Then they come to an attractive place called Bypath Meadow. They climb over a fence into the meadow and the new path becomes easy again. But only for a time.
Soon the new path became rugged and steep. A terrible storm breaks overhead. Exhausted by the effort to continue, Christian and Hopeful lie down and fall asleep. Suddenly they are awakened by the owner of the meadow, the Giant of Despair, who drags them to Doubting Castle and throws them into a dungeon where he taunts them, beats them and starves them. Hurt and confused, they despair.
Finally, Christian and Hopeful begin to pray. Then Christian remembers that he is carrying in his packet a key called Promise. Quickly he uses it to open the doors of the dungeon, and then the gate of the castle. Freedom! Soon they were on the King's Highway again.
Are you doubting? Filled with despair? Perhaps same where along the line you chose to leave God's will to enter some pleasurable bypath. If so, came back to Jesus. Confess your sin. Accept His promise of forgiveness. .. .Return to the right path. [Our Daily Bread ]
0 Lord, return to me Your power
That once by grace I knew;
Forgive the sin that grieves Your heart,
And help me to be true. --Anon.
CONCLUSION
He who by Jesus' power reigning within himself rules his passions, desires and fears, has better reason to be praised than a king.
Our heart–the yearning of our intellect, our feelings of love and desire and our will for life--dictate to a great extent how we live because we always find time to do what we enjoy. Solomon tells us to guard our heart above all else, making sure we focus on the Lord, heed His wise words and walk in the path of His will for you. Make sure your affections are for Him and what He approves of. Put boundaries on your desires. Don't go after whatever looks good. Look straight ahead, keep your eyes fixed on your goal, and don't get sidetracked on detours that lead to sin. [Application Bible, 1079]
Proverbs chapter 4 urges to consider carefully our own path in life. Our Scripture passage contains a five-point evil-avoidance strategy. Here's how it works:
1. Make God's wisdom your life's guide & goal (Prov 4:20-22).
2. Guard you heart against evil (v 23).
3. Watch you words (v 24).
4. Keep your eyes on what is good and pure(v25)
5. Keep your feet from evil ways (vv. 26,27).
It is not easy to make our way through the maze of godlessness that threatens to defile us. So ask God each day to guard your heart, to guide your eyes, to direct your steps, & to remind you often of His love for you. May He give us grace each day to embrace His Word and follow Him with all our hearts.
