Mar 23, 2022 – Proverbs 4:23 – Guard your heart
Daily Word
Proverbs 4:23 (New Living Translation) [A thought for thought translation]
23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 (New American Standard Bible) [A word for word translation]
23 Watch over your heart with all diligence, For from it flow the springs of life.
Pastor’s Thoughts
Simply put, garbage in and garbage out. In other words, what you put in your heart is what will come out of you.
If you make a habit of putting in God’s Word and purposeful times of prayers then more of Jesus will come out of you. If you make a habit of putting in things that have no value or even worse, that have negative value then that is what will come out of you.
There are many times I can look back on and remember spending to much time on my phone, or to much time in front of the tv, or to much time doing things that have no or negative value and I would find myself feeling empty and depressed. I would walk away regretting or at the very least questioning did what I just spent all this time on accomplish anything of real value.
I have never asked that question when spending quality time in God’s Word and in prayer. Sure, there have been times where I didn’t fully understand what I had read or what God was trying to tell me, but I never walked away feeling empty and depressed.
The reason the Bible tells us to guard/watch our hearts is because there is an enemy who loves to tempt our hearts. But not just the enemy, there is the world that loves to tempt us. But even worse than that, our very own flesh (sin nature) wants to be tempted. It wants to be filled with things of the world rather than things of God.
That is why we must guard our hearts. That is why we must increase Jesus in our lives and decrease everything else.
We do not want to be at the end of our life having our heart tell us where it took us. That is not a good place to be. Trust me. I have been around many people at the end of their lives who did not guard their hearts. And every one of them is full of regret and sorrow.
Have a blessed Wednesday everyone. I pray that you will live life understanding that if you do not guard your heart then sin will run rampant in it.
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