Walk Of Life – Day 4, July 2021 – Thoughts From The Book of Proverbs- Be Diligent

Be Diligent to keep your heart with all diligence

Keep your heart with all diligence,
For out of it spring the issues of life. – Proverbs 4:23

A heart full of sin and foolishness does not have life flowing from it. Only when our hearts are full of his truth and love will life flow from our hearts. Therefore to keep our hearts with all diligence, we must keep the truths and biblical instructions God has placed within our hearts through the Holy Spirit illuminating the Scriptures.

Keep” in Proverbs 4:23 is sometimes translated “guard” as well. The message is that we should protect, maintain and nourish our heart because it is our heart that helps us successfully navigate life. A well-kept, guarded heart will serve us well by helping us navigate the stress of life, sustaining us in difficult circumstances and being around negative people.

How do I go about “guarding” my heart? Philippians 4:6-8 puts us on the right track:

Philippians 4:6-8 NKJV:

6 Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication, with thanksgiving, let your requests be made known to God; 7 and the peace of God, which surpasses all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus. 8 Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy — meditate on these things.

What we feed our minds will affect our heart. Life usually provides enough drama on its own so it doesn’t seem like a good idea to stir up more or to create conflict or to nurse or hold grudges and unforgiveness.

Reasons to be diligent to keep our hearts with all diligence:

our heart is very much valuable

There are many verses in the Bible which says that our actions are the reflection of our heart. If what is within is pure, that which comes outside will also be pure. “Out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks”. Moreover the heart mentioned here has got to do more than our physical heart. It refers to our soul, which is more valuable and precious than the gains received from the whole world. It’s indeed true and this pandemic caused by an unseen virus has made the whole world realise as many great millionaires could not save their life using their possession. So keep your heart with all diligence as it’s extremely valuable.

Our heart is under constant attack.

When Solomon says to guard your heart, he implies that you are living in a combat zone—one in which there are casualties.

Many of us are oblivious to the reality of this war. We have an enemy who is bent on our destruction. He not only opposes God, but he opposes everything that is aligned with him—including us

The Enemy uses all kinds of weapons to attack our heart. For us, these attacks often come in the form of some circumstance that leads to disappointment, discouragement, or even disillusionment. In these situations, we am tempted to quit—to walk off the field of leading a life with our Lord and surrender to his evil trap.

King Solomon says it is the “wellspring of life.” In other words, it is the source of everything else in your life.

Hence be diligent to keep your heart with all diligence. Never allow anything unclean to enter into your heart.