In Proverbs 4:23 we are told to “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” The word heart is used often throughout the Word of God.
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In Jeremiah 17:9, we are told that the “heart is deceitful.”
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In John 14:1, we are told to “Let not your
heart be troubled.”
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In Deuteronomy 6:5, we see that we are to love the
Lord with all of our heart.
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In Romans 10:9-10, we see the heart is vital to
salvation, “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.”
So
what is the heart? Solomon tells us what
the heart is when he says, “for out of it are the issues of life.” The heart is that which produces our
actions. You can actually know the heart
of a person by their actions. Now that
is a scary thought that people can know my heart by what I do. Solomon goes on in Proverbs 4:24-27 to give
us three ways to identify our heart.
First of all, you can know a
person’s heart by what they say. Verse
24, “Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from
thee.” If my words are froward
(crooked, dishonest) or perverse (misleading), then my heart is dishonest and
misleading. If I gossip, lie, murmur,
complain, backbite, it is because my heart is filled with gossip, lies,
murmuring, complaints, and backbiting.
On the other hand, if my words are pure and clean, that reveals a pure
and clean heart. So as you listen to
people talk, you can know their heart. Matthew
12:34, “for out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.”
Secondly, you can know a
person’s heart by what they look at or watch. Proverbs 4:25, “Let thine eyes
look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.” A heart that is out of control looks at
things that he or she should not. There
is no reason to explain here, this is pretty clear.
Thirdly, you can know a
person’s heart by where they go. Proverbs
4:26-27, “Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left:
remove thy foot from evil.” Do I go
to the house of God or the ballfield? Do
I go soul-winning or to fulfill my hobby?
Do I go to movies which I should not be seeing? Oh well, you get the idea.
✞ If you think a car out of control is dangerous, you ought to see a heart out of control.
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