Watch!

Watch!

Keep and guard your heart with all vigilance and above all that you guard, for out of it flow the springs of life.

Proverbs 4:23 AMP

Context and Charge:

When you read a verse like this one with a scale of preference, you have to pay attention to the full message. This verse tells me that some things come before some other things. They are all important, but if I will see the fullness of God's purpose, plan and program come to pass in my life, I have to get God's model for life. I can't do it the way I want to, or how I want to. God's model is the ideal for life, and as I am not the creator or sustainer of life, I have to trust the One who is the Way, Truth and Life. 

A quick look at the verses before today's extract gives me a view of what is important. The verses lay emphasis of the counsel of the parent of the writer. The parental counsel was based on God's Word, and we will do well to heed what God has to say on all situations. His Word has an answer to all of life's questions, but this is where it gets personal: I have the power to choose how I respond. God is omnipotent, yet gives me the power to choose him on my own freewill. I am able to love Him with all my heart, because I surrendered it on my own accord. 

Conviction and Conclusion:

This is why my heart must be guarded above all else. Whatever you allow into it takes root. It does not matter how long it takes; if you feed it long enough, or you do nothing to weed out unwanted seed, all that you allow to take root will soon bear fruit. I note that I can't change the outcome of the seed once it is planted, but I can prevent the seed from finding soil in my heart. I must stand guard over my heart at all times, watching and praying over all that will impact it. The end of this process makes the journey worth it.

The verse says out of my heart and its focus and pursuits are the issues of life. Of course, where God offers life, the devil will also try and introduce death. I can't rely on human strength or vigour; the devil has been around for quite a while and is skilled in manipulation and deception. By God's power, I watch carefully all that is allowed to impact my heart. I submit all to the dictates and direction of the Word of God. I want my life to matter in this generation I have been planted in. The key is in watching. God's time of favour is here.