Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life.
Proverbs 4:23 (New American Standard Bible)
Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Proverbs 4:23 (New Living Translation)
When Nehemiah began rebuilding the walls of Jerusalem, it was about restoring the people of Israel. After the walls were completed the Law of Moses, given by God, was declared (Neh. 8). God has already begun the work of restoring us, and if we hope to keep it going we must protect ourselves. Reading Nehemiah chapter 4, you can see the opposition the Israelites faced in the form of irreverent merchants, traitors, and threat of an attack. In the same way we must be on our Guard so God can continue the great work in us. If we are so naïve to think the enemy doesn’t have plans to derail us, we will go down even faster.
As Proverbs 4:23 commands, guard your hearts. Everything comes from your heart. Every relationship takes root in your heart, and every lie and manipulative act has a spot in your heart. The thing about your heart is that those things don’t just leave until you get rid of them. Sometimes, people who have had chaos throughout their lives will often remain in that pattern of thinking even after they accept Christ. It’s something rooted in their heart. That’s why you still see Christians who have constant drama in their lives. Sure, there will be trouble times, but before any of that happened there was already trouble in their hearts. We cannot control what happens to us, but we can control what happens in us.
Our hearts are but a container for what we store inside.
Life in God is about a restoration to being all He has made us to be. At the end of Nehemiah the walls are rebuilt, but there is trouble inside Jerusalem, still. Even after this amazing story of restoration for Israel, Nehemiah must return to Jerusalem to rebuke the elders and set things right (13:7). Trouble remains on the inside.
We wonder why we constantly feel the way we do. It’s because we may still have old ways of living and thinking in us. We have to give our hearts and everything in us to God. It’s a process, but we must learn to recognize the wrong things and thinking that we still do, and give it to God.
The day your done growing is the day you’re done.
Ask God to show you what remains, which isn’t of him. This is something that never ends as long as we live.
Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.
Romans 12:2 (NLT)
-fonzi
This is amazing Chris! Proverbs is the best book. :D
ReplyDeleteThis is really good. I love that verse so much. It's one of my favorites. I need to put it into action though.
ReplyDeleteI've been going through a little of this myself. I need to learn to guard my heart a little more. Actually a lot more. I also need to give everything that is in my heart, that is there because I didn't guard it, up to God. I keep trying to forget about things and feelings all on my own. But I can't do it. A lot of feelings just keep coming right back and I have to try and shove them down deeper so they won't come back anymore. But what I really need to do is say "Here God. I don't want these feelings anymore. I want you to have them. Take them away." I know that if I do that, then I would be much better off.
That's what God is here for. To help us with pain, to rid us of things that will keep us from getting to know him better. He only wants what is best for us. But if we don't look to Him for the answer then we will never be as close to Him as we could be.