“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows out of it” – Proverbs 4:23 (NIV).

“Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it spring the issues of life” – Proverbs 4:23 (KJV).

This proverb speaks of intentionality, being purposeful and deliberate in where we are to put our energy. ‘Above all else’ – make this your one priority, put other tasks second to this. What is this priority? What is the focus of our action? It is to guard! Guard the heart.

The Bible often gives calls for singular action or focus. Psalm 27:4 “One thing I ask of the Lord this is what I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD.” (emphasis mine); or from Joshua, “But as for me and my household, we will serve the LORD” (Joshua 24:15).

In this proverb we are called to be intentional about guarding out heart, something so valuable, that if we do it well, we will have a wiser more biblical perspective on all the issues of life we face; or if we neglect to guard our heart well, then we open ourselves up to the worlds perspective, a perspective that is harmful and leads us away from holiness.

The heart is the vital part of the body. A wound here can mean death. As it is naturally (physically), so also it is spiritually. If we lower our guard to accept the ‘wisdom’ of the world, we begin to create division in our heart.

When we think of a wise person in the Bible we often think of Solomon. Solomon asked the Lord in 1 Kings 3 v 9 for wisdom. The purpose of that wisdom was so that he could “distinguish between right and wrong”. God powerfully answered that prayer with these words in v12 “I will give you a wise and discerning heart, so that there will never have been anyone like you, nor will there ever be.”

So great was Solomon’s wisdom (heart) that people came from all around the world to hear his wisdom. He governed well, and no wonder he could write for us “Above all else, guard your heart for out of it spring the issues of life.”

Sadly however, Solomon let his guard down. He did not listen to his own advice. His heart began to love others, not just God. In 1 Kings 11 we read that Solomon “turned his heart after other gods, and his heart was not fully devoted to the LORD his God” (v4).

What caused this? He began to let the ‘world’ influence him in his thinking, and this was done through his marriage to many foreign women who turned “his heart after their gods” (v2). His love for the world meant that his heart was not fully devoted to God.

What is the lesson for us? We must heed to the advice of scripture and ‘Above all else, guard your heart’. Guard your heart from believing the lies of the world, the “wisdom” of the world. The need to guard and protect our heart is similar to the way A W Tozer says the farmer must protect and guard his fields. ‘Tozer says “Every farmer knows the hunger of the wilderness. That hunger which no modern farm machinery, no improved agricultural methods can quite destroy. No matter how well-prepared the soil, how well-kept the fences, how carefully painted the buildings, let the owner neglect for a while his prized and valued acres and they will revert again to the wilds and be swallowed by the jungle or the wasteland. The bias of nature is toward the wilderness never toward the fruitful field.” The neglected heart, the life with crumbled walls, will soon be overrun by the world and chaos will prevail.’

Therefore, place your trust in God’s word, his Truth which is so often contrary to the world’s wisdom. Ask God as Solomon did for a ‘wise and discerning heart’ so that our views on what is right and wrong are determined by God’s Truth, His wisdom imparted to us.

Donald Trump often lambasts the media for “fake news”. As Christians we need to be wise to discern what is ‘fake truth’ – what is presented as truth, righteous, but in fact is against God’s word.

Please pray for the staff, leadership team and Board of Trustees that in today’s culture we would have hearts fully devoted to God, and hearts that God has put wisdom into (1 Kings 10:24).

Richard Vanderpyl