Prov. 4:23 NIV
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
One of the very first things the doctor will check when you go for a medical checkup is your heart. The heart has a particular rhythm that it beats at if one is healthy, and that’s what the doctors look for. If the heart is out of rhythm, then it’s a good indicator that something is wrong.
The bible tells us to guard our hearts because everything we do flows from it. What we do may seem right, but if our hearts are filled with wickedness then according to God our actions are null and void.
God also looks at our hearts to determine if what we do and say is genuine, or we are faking it.
We have a tendency to look at and castigate sins that we can see, but we ignore the sins of the heard which are deadly and if left unchecked will corrupt ones whole life.
Matt. 15:19-20 NIV
For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what defile a person; but eating with unwashed hands does not defile them.”
Because the heart of man is exceedingly wicked, what flows from it is wicked. This is why we need to be born again so that we can receive a new nature and a new heart, so to speak.
But even after that, as believers we can entertain sins like pride, lust, unforgiving, jealousy and envy and in so doing defile ourselves. People may not know and all may seem well as we go through the motions of our Christian life, but we are defiled and walking in rebellion.
Like David, may we make this prayer;
Psalm 139:23-23
23 Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
24 See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.
Reflections.
What is the condition of your heart, are you born again? What assurance do you have that you are born again?
What are some secret sins you have allowed to lodge in your heart, unforgiving, lust, jealousy, pride…..
How will you guard your heart with all diligence?
