On Guard!

On Guard!

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23 KJV

So above all, guard the affections of your heart, for they affect all that you are. Pay attention to the welfare of your innermost being, for from there flows the wellspring of life.

Proverbs 4:23 TPT

One verse, two different versions, but the same message. Guard your heart. Why use the word guard? The picture that comes to mind is a person who has something of value to keep safe. He also knows that that thing is the target of attack, as there are a number of persons or situations that want to destroy it or cause it distress. He also knows that if that thing is stolen, destroyed or distressed, it will cause a huge loss. That is the whole essence of standing guard over the heart. 

It then means that the heart is precious: it is the seat of battle; the place of decisions; the place from where I am defined. I must therefore stand guard, keeping an eye on what goes into my heart. We focus so much on the 

external, forgetting that nothing  ever flows out of a heart that has not first received an inflow, either by the senses of sight, hearing, feeling, smell or taste. We keep an eye on how we want to look, forgetting that we are better off focused on what goes into our hearts. It is the heart's contents that define us, and these is what we will do well to watch. 

And the responsibility of guarding the heart is mine alone. I cannot delegate it out to anyone else. I cannot blame my environment for the pollution of my heart, as I have been given a choice on what to focus on. As long as I have been given a mind of my own, I am empowered to make decisions in line with God's will for my life. I can't blame God for the consequences of the exercise of my own freewill. 

And I must guard my heart with all diligence, not carelessly or without thought. If I understand the eternal implications of my actions, maybe I will strive to live better. And as today's extract makes very clear, it is the heart that determines my life's outflow. I love the second version that says: wellspring of life. When you get your input right, your heart becomes a spring of life; a never ending flow of life. It would impact other people's lives too, because a spring is really not what you can limit to one person or situation. My life becomes a generational blessing, because the life of God in me cannot be limited. If I will make impact the way God wants, it has to be the way God has laid down. Nothing else will work. His time of favour is here.