GUARD YOUR HEART

Proverbs 4:23–27 “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.”

As I began to think about this section of verses, it stood out to me that it takes work to guard one’s heart—especially in this day of a continual flow of visual media.  Interesting to me was that the Hebrew for the word “issues” included the idea of boundaries.  That made sense to me.  It is through the purposes determined in our heart that we establish the boundaries that directly affect our actions.  The prophet Daniel provides a good example of this truth.

Daniel 1:8 “But Daniel purposed in his heart that he would not defile himself with the portion of the king’s meat, nor with the wine which he drank: therefore he requested of the prince of the eunuchs that he might not defile himself.”

The word “froward” is another word for perverse or willfully wicked; so a “froward mouth and perverse lips” would make reference to evil speaking of any kind.  The Lord is telling us that we need to determine in our heart not to lie, gossip, use God’s name in vain, etc.—to put it far from us.

I think that the admonition to focus on where we are going and what we are doing is again an admonition to avoid temptation.  If we have purposed in our heart to obey God and focus on doing those things that please Him, we can avoid the temptation to sin that results from allowing our eyes to stray and encounter the things of the world that appeal to our sin nature.  The Hebrew for “ponder” includes the idea of weighing our thoughts.  If we “ponder the path of our feet,” we are carefully considering the consequences of our steps and where they might lead us.

The Father warns us not to deviate from the path of obedience to God.  This is the truth that is so beautifully illustrated in John Bunyan’s book, Pilgrims Progress.  The path of obedience is one that provides protection from the consequences of sin and leads to eternal blessing.

(to be continued...)