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Thoughts of a saint and slave
by Sam Isaacson
I have a confession to make: I trust too much. If someone tells me something I tend to learn it, accept it as fact, but then forget where I have learnt it from; allow me to give an embarrassing illustration. For years I have been quoting the well-known Bible verse ‘at the name of Jesus every demon flees’ because someone ‘quoted’ it to me once. Now while I think that the essence of that quoted ‘verse’ is true and even biblical I challenge you to find those particular words in any translation of the Bible; it is not there!
The verse we will look at today is in the Bible but has been misquoted to me so I felt I ought to revisit it here. As a baby Christian I was still pretty obsessed with girls and didn’t mind getting into short-term relationships to satisfy my craving and on more than one occasion Christians told me that I ought to ‘guard my heart’. In other words, don’t allow yourself to become emotionally attached too soon – protect yourself. But I do not think that these words are primarily there for relationship advice.
The verse in the NIV translation says: ‘Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life’ (Proverbs 4:23). Of course, the best way to read the Bible is to begin with the context, and that is what we will do here. This sentence appears as part of a larger paragraph which begins with the statement: ‘My son, pay attention to what I say; listen closely to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to a man's whole body’ (Proverbs 4:20-22). What is being talked about here is the words of wisdom as presented in the book of Proverbs; the reader is instructed to (1) pay attention to them, (2) listen closely to them, (3) keep them in sight, and (4) keep them within your heart. Reasons given are that (1) they bring life, and that (2) they bring health. And it is from this foundation that verse 23 rises.
The picture is of someone standing in a soccer goal. The striker has the ball and is winding up to shoot. The goalkeeper must pay attention to the ball. He must watch the striker’s foot carefully. He must never let the ball out of his sight. And when the ball is struck he must grab it, and hold it close to his chest, or his team will concede a goal. With this in mind we read our passage:
‘Above all else…’
Nothing is more important than what is about to be said! Whatever has been going through your mind, the Bible tells us that the following words are to be listened to.
‘…guard your heart…’
Once we have caught these words and are keeping them within our heart we must guard it from outside challenges. Attacks may come from any side that will attempt to steal these words from us so we must protect our heart.
‘…for it is the wellspring of life.’
Life, and I believe this refers to eternal life, finds its wellspring in our hearts. We are to hold God’s Word right there, knowing that life flows from the fact that the Word is found in our heart. That sounds awfully cryptic, though! Here’s a quick breakdown. The Word is not just the Bible, it refers to Jesus of Nazareth (see John 1:1 and John 1:14). Before we received him into our hearts we were dead (see Ephesians 2:1) but he brings us life, and dwells in our hearts by faith.
How do we guard our hearts?
The answer is found more easily than imagined; the Apostle Paul spells it out for us in Philippians 4:4,6-7:
‘Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, Rejoice…do not be anxious about anything, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.’
We are to (1) rejoice in the Lord – enjoy your salvation and relationship with Him! (2) rejoice again – we cannot hear this often enough, apparently – enjoy your salvation and relationship with the living God! (3) do not worry – this is so important; at this point I would heartily recommend Max Lucado’s latest book, entitled Fearless, (4) pray – simply ask Jesus and trust that he will answer, and finally (5) give thanks – gratefulness to God for His unending, undeserved grace and mercy will inevitably lead to…God’s peace. And it is that which will guard our hearts and minds in who? Christ Jesus!
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