Proverbs 4:23. Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.
This might be one of the most important verses in all of Proverbs, and one of the most important lessons in all of life – Keep your heart.
In the Old Testament the ancient Hebrews understood the heart to be that deepest part of you, the control center of your life. The heart is the source of all love and desire, and out of the hearts flows every thought, choice, and feeling – the springs of life.
We are what we love.
What we love determines who we truly are, and who we are becoming. Everything you will say today will come from your heart. Every choice you make, good or bad, will come from your heart. Everything you think about will start in the heart with what you care about the most.
The Puritans called the heart our affections. Our affections drive everything we do. The acts of the will are determined by our affections so that we always do what we want to do, good or bad. Or as Saint Augustine said, “We always choose what we love the most.”
Sin, of course, has caused our affections to be misplaced, twisted, inordinate. We are all born with a darkened heart, one that is desperately wicked. But praise God that in Christ we have been given a new heart with a new affection. A deeper desire for Christ and his love. Our heart of stone has been replaced with his own heart of flesh. God’s divine law of love has been written upon our hearts. Now we are what we love and what we love is God because he first loved us.
You: Can you see the influence of your affections upon your thoughts, choices, attitudes?
You in Christ: How does your union with the love of Christ serve to guard your heart?
Christ in you: How can you begin to listen to the heart and the affections of Jesus today, rather than your fleshly desires?
Pray: Father, help me by your grace to guard my heart today trusting that you love me unconditionally. Amen.
To Live is Christ 