Keep Your Heart With All Diligence.

LIKE MANY PEOPLE, I ASSUMED MY HEART WAS IN PRETTY GOOD SHAPE.

Though I carried a little extra weight at my mid-section, it was certainly far less than others … And, my cholesterol numbers were slightly high … And, I have a family history of heart issues … I was fairly active in sports, so surely I was okay, not a candidate for a heart attack!

I even set out to reduce my chances of trouble! I changed my diet , reducing the kinds of foods that caused those problems. I cut back on eating ice cream. I was using skim milk. I tried, rather unsuccessfully, to stop snacking after 8:00 PM.

But, I did not keep my heart with all diligence as the Bible warns us. “Keep [guard] thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). I had a heart attack!

Now I realize the Bible here is speaking about our spiritual heart, the center of our being, rather than our physical heart that pumps our blood around our body. But, we need to guard our heart, both to protect our physical well-being and our spiritual well-being.

MANY PEOPLE ALSO ASSUME THEIR SPIRITUAL HEARTS ARE PRETTY GOOD.

They are nice people, even nicer than most. They don’t commit those horrible sins that they hear about. They try to cut back on their bad language. They might attend church and even put money in the offering plate.

The reality is, though, that we are all born with a bad heart, spiritually speaking:

Jeremiah 17:9 says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?” Romans 3:10 tells us, “As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one.” In Romans 3:23, we’re told, “all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God.” 

“But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man. For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: These are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man” (Matthew 15:18-20).

THESE ARE BAD HEART CONDITIONS!

And God tells us the consequences of not keeping our heart:

“For the wages of sin is death…” (Romans 6:23). 

“The soul that sinneth, it shall die…” (Ezekiel 18:20). 

“Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned” (Romans 5:12).

There is good news, though, for our spiritual hearts! God made a way to fix our sick, wicked hearts:

“For when we were yet without strength, in due time Christ died for the ungodly…” (Romans 5:6). “But God commendeth his love toward us, in that, while we were yet sinners, Christ died for us” (Romans 5:8). “For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:23).

“For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16).

“For by grace are ye saved through faith; and that not of yourselves: it is the gift of God: Not of works, lest any man should boast” (Ephesians 2:8-9).

“But for us also, to whom it shall be imputed [righteousness], if we believe on him that raised up Jesus our Lord from the dead; who was delivered for our offences, and was raised again for our justification” (Romans 4:24-25). 

“That if thou shalt confess with thy mouth the Lord Jesus, and shalt believe in thine heart that God hath raised him from the dead, thou shalt be saved. For with the heart man believeth unto righteousness; and with the mouth confession is made unto salvation. For the scripture saith, Whosoever believeth on him shall not be ashamed … For whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be saved” (Romans 10:9-11, 13).

DON’T MAKE THE MISTAKE OF ASSUMING THAT YOUR HEART IS OKAY BEFORE GOD.

Call (believe) on the Lord Jesus Christ today and be saved from your sins. Years ago, I believed on Christ and received Him as my Savior. God fixed my sin-sick heart and made me His child.

“But as many as received him, to them gave he power to become the sons of God, even to them that believe on his name” (John 1:12).

There was good news for me regarding my physical heart attack. I went to a hospital where the doctor installed two stents and opened up the affected artery. What I couldn’t fix on my own, the doctor corrected. Now I am guarding my physical heart, too, with diligence by eating much more wisely and exercising with more diligence. And I am taking the medicines that help correct my inherited physical heart issues.

As a believer, I guard my heart from spiritual problems in several ways. One is by reading and studying my Bible every day.

“Wherewithal shall a young man cleanse his way? by taking heed thereto according to thy word … Thy word have I hid in mine heart, that I might not sin against thee” (Psalm 119: 9,11).

We also have the wonderful privilege of praying to our Creator God.

“Call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great and mighty things, which thou knowest not” (Jeremiah 33:3).

God invites us to continually confess our sins to Him as we maintain fellowship with Him.

“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

And we can pray for others!

“I exhort therefore, that first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men. For kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty” (1 Timothy 2:1-2).

Also, being involved in a Bible-preaching, Bible-teaching church helps guard our hearts.

“And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching” (Hebrews 10:24-25). 

And, tell others what God has done for you.

“And he said unto them, ‘Go ye into all the world, and preach the gospel to every creature’” (Mark 16:15).

So, keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life, as Proverbs 4:23 tells us.