Guest Blogger: Zachary Ethridge
The book of Proverbs has a lot to say about the heart. In the ESV translation there are 77 references to the heart in just 31 chapters, and that doesn’t include allusions to the heart with words like desire, love, long, etc. For Solomon, a heart of wisdom is central to a life of wisdom. Consider Proverbs 4:23 – “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.” Keep (or guard) your heart with all vigilance. Diligently defend your heart. And this is why—because FROM it flow the springs of life. Pastor Dalton worded it like this:
The condition of your heart determines the course of your life.
In the book of Proverbs there are only two paths to take: the path of wisdom or the path of folly. Your heart is the source that determines the course of your life. From it flows your whole life. God knows if He has your heart he has your life, and Satan knows it too. The stakes could not be higher! So, if you are going to guard your heart effectively, you must first understand that there is a battle for your heart.
The battle for your life will be won or lost in your heart. You’ve never lost a battle against temptation that you didn’t first lose in your heart. So, here’s the question: How do I guard my heart? In the preceding verses, Solomon tells his son to incline his ear to his sayings and to keep them in his sight. He’s showing us a connection between the eyes, ears, and heart.
Your eyes and ears are the doors to your heart.
Consider the fall of humanity. Genesis 3:1 says, “He said to the woman…” Genesis 3:6 says, “So when the woman saw that the tree was good for food, and that it was a delight to the eyes…” He SAID. She SAW. They SINNED. When they were listening to the wrong voice and looking at the wrong thing, their hearts were turned away from God. And from that day forward, every person has been born with a heart that’s on the path of folly. We don’t love God, and we do love sin. Solomon would later write, “Who can say I have made my heart pure (Prov. 20:9)?” No one! But that’s what the gospel is all about! We couldn’t clean our hearts and lives, so out of love for us (1 John 4:19, Rom. 5:8, Eph. 2:4-5), Jesus gives us a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26).
The gospel changes the direction of our lives by changing the condition of our hearts.
And yet I sense that our hearts are prone to wander. There’s still an ongoing battle for our affections. We love the wrong things too much, and the right things too little. Here’s a principle that should guide our love: Your love for something should be proportional to its significance.
We need bigger hearts for God and people and smaller hearts for less important things. To do that we need new habits and routines with our eyes and ears. What we desperately need are habits and routines that reinforce our regeneration. So, what are you looking at? You are becoming what you are beholding. And what are you listening to? What lies are you believing about God, yourself, etc.? No one talks to you more than you do. Stop listening to your carnal self and start preaching the gospel to yourself! More than anything, look to Jesus and become like Him (2 Cor. 3:8, 1 John 3:2). Listen to Jesus and live (Proverbs 4:2, Proverbs 4:22)!
