ODJ: guard your heart


February 4, 2013 

READ: Proverbs 4:20-27 

Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life (v.23).


Christianity is a religion of the heart. Once God has our heart, the rest of life flows. To God, the heart is central.
A cursory glance at the Bible shows this to be true. God doesn’t look at external appearances but at the heart (1 Samuel 16:7). He despises religious acts devoid of worship from the heart (Isaiah 29:13). God searches our heart (Psalm 139:23) and wants us to trust Him (Proverbs 3:5). The essence of His law is to love Him and others with all of our hearts (Matthew 22:37-39).
Jesus rebuked the Pharisees for promoting a religion of deeds without the heart. They thought they could hate and lust all they liked, as long as they didn’t commit the acts of murder or adultery (5:21-30, 43-48), but Jesus would have none of it. He said that our words and things we treasure reveal the true state of our hearts (6:21, 12:34). And He promised to unleash rivers of life from within after we invited Him to reside there (John 7:37-38).
Our heart is our essence—the deepest part of what is truly us. It’s the wellspring from which our dreams, desires, passions, motives, thoughts, emotions, decisions and actions arise. So it’s no wonder that Scripture says to guard it! Our heart really does “determine the course” of our lives—both here and beyond.
So, guard your heart. Guard it from idols. For the heart is the place where the God we worship speaks. The true God will call you to acts of “love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness and self-control” (Galatians 5:22-23), while all other gods—whether money, sex or power—will lead you astray.

So, in the end, we don’t need to build fences around our heart but invite the true God into it, letting him completely fill us. —Sheridan Voysey