Above All Else
Consider: Proverbs 4:23
“Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do.” – Proverbs 4:23 (NLT)
Solomon, the writer of Proverbs is laying it out straight. He made it clear at the beginning of this book that the whole point of Proverbs is to help people in life (see Proverbs 1:2-6).
In Proverbs 4 we have a challenge that above all else we’re to guard our heart.
Well, that’s easy, if Jesus lives in your heart, then you’re all good right? And you only need to make sure you “stay saved”. That’s guarding your heart, right?
Wrong. Dead wrong.
To live out your life that way is limiting the work of God in your life. Giving Jesus our hearts and lives is more than a stay-out-of-hell card. It is life and life more abundantly! And by not guarding your heart, you are giving the enemy an open target to derail that life.
The challenge to guard our heart is not so that we have to follow more rules and do’s and don’ts, but so that we can continue to move forward in this new life we have.
So how do we guard our hearts?
One way is to guard what you look at.
Jesus said in Matthew 6:22-23 “Your eye is a lamp for your body. A pure eye lets sunshine into your soul. But an evil eye shuts out the light and plunges you into darkness. If the light you think you have is really darkness, how deep that darkness will be!”
What Jesus just said there is, whatever you look at will affect you. And He even said that we can be looking at something thinking it’s light, but really it’s darkness… then He said “how deep that darkness will be”. It’s deep because we do not realize it’s darkness. We have let stuff into our heart unreservedly because we think it’s OK when all along it is bringing destruction and working death in our hearts.
This is not a cry for legalistic do’s and don’ts, but for each of us to raise the bar high in our personal lives so that our hearts will be guarded and we will be able to abundantly live the life Jesus came to give.
Because above all else, guard your heart.
TJ Bloom on May 27th, 2009
This reminds me of a season in my life when I took a challenge to shut out any and all form of media other than reading my bible, listening to Christian music and bible studies. I was part of a men’s small study that was attending a Promise Keepers rally and we did this for 40 days prior to the event.
Those that know me well understand I am a huge sports nut and rarely does a day go by when I don’t check in with Sportscenter, etc. The challenge seemed tough but one I felt the Spirit calling me to answer. Well, the short version is that those were 40 powerful days. God used that time to really speak to my heart and mind without me putting anything in its way. The rest of the group shared similar testimonies and we extended the challenge as long as possible. I’m not sure when I finally broke down for some sports but that wasn’t the point. Flashing forward to present day I feel a noticeable difference when my heart isn’t guarded well. When I’m to busy, distracted, lazy and bored I let my guard down. When I don’t correct it quickly it leads to another day, another and sometimes many. The next thing I know, I’ve gone through the motions of several days. How many opportunities did I miss to share Jesus with someone? How much of my limited memory did I clog with useless things? I feel cleansed and renewed when I get back to basics and live each day with my heart guarded and my eyes focused on Abba Father !!! Forgive me Lord for my shortcomings and strengthen me to guard my heart every moment of every day.