King Solomon said it best in Proverbs 4:23, “Above all else, Guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” This scripture implies that whatever we allow to enter our hearts, if not examined and evaluated properly, will undoubtedly be expressed in our lives and our actions -in positive and negative ways.
Vigilance is defined as the action or state of keeping careful watch for possible danger or difficulties. That’s exactly what God calls us to do with our hearts. We are to pay extra attention to our hearts and watch them closely. There will be dangers and difficulties we can face in life, and we should be ready.
Jesus has done everything for us. We can be forgiven for all of eternity if we repent. What He did on the cross and how He rose from the dead was enough and will always be enough. If you’re a follower of Jesus you should remain loyal and faithful to God in everything you do.
The wellspring of life…where someone does all thinking, feeling, and choosing doesn’t come into out hearts from external circumstances but rather flows out of our hearts through the Holy Spirit. At the end of the day, what we do reveals our heart.
Here are 7 ways to guard your heart:
1. Protect Everything That Comes In
Everything is competing for our time, money, and resources. Just turn on the TV or social media or go anywhere and you’ll quickly be hit with anything and everything that wants your attention. Music, videos, sex, books, language, power, money and pride are just some of the many examples.
We need to use wisdom in what we allow into our hearts. We only have a limited time each day to make much of God, so what are we being influenced by, listening to, or looking at?
We should train our eyes to look away from lust. Listen to wisdom instead of folly. Protect yourself from harm’s way and a culture that is anti-God and replace it with things that are Godly. And your heart will remain protected.
2. Persevere In The Face Of Difficulties
Difficulties happen in life, there is no getting around it. It’s a product of a sinful world with sinful people. It’s not a coincidence that God lines out multiple things for you to do while following Him. Reading the Bible daily, praying consistently, sharing the Gospel every chance you get, and spending time in solitude with the Lord are just some of these.
There will be times we don’t feel like being in the Lord’s presence or feel like He is listening to our prayers. Persevere! Trust that He is always completing a good work in you. Believe that the Lord will prevail, in all things. As you persevere, you will continue to grow in Godliness and your heart will be strong.
3. Follow What The Lord Is Leading You To Do
This is a nice way of saying “Obey God.” If we don’t do this why do we expect anything good to happen in our lives. Everyone is different. We all have different skills and desires and that’s a good thing. God made us all different intentionally. He calls us to follow Him in many different ways. Some will be teachers, pastors, emergency technicians, stay at home parents, musicians, mechanics, writers, or retail.
What is God asking you to do? What do you desire and you just can’t stop thinking about it? Chances are that’ll what God’s calling you to do right now. Trust Him and go for it. The longer you quench that desire, the more strain your putting on your heart.
4. Cultivate An Atmosphere Of Community
When we are adopted as sons and daughters of the one true King, we come into a family and are sent on a mission. This involves people. There is no way to follow Jesus in isolation, it doesn’t make any sense. If your following Jesus, you’ll be part of a church and He will make you disciples… that does not translate to -just have your personal isolation relationship with me and you’ll be fine. We need people. We need community,
Your heart needs people constantly pouring into you, and you need to be pouring into people. There’s a constant flow coming in and out as you love and serve others. People need to hear about Jesus and you need to grow in the Lord with your family that you’ll be with for all eternity.
5. Keep Priorities High And Do Not Compromise
There’s wisdom in keeping our priorities. Of course, those need to be the right priorities to become with, keeping them is a big deal. What can happen (and it’s happened many times) is that we let the day dictate our priorities instead of our priorities dictating the day.
God, our family (spouse, children etc.), work, and so on is an example of an order of priorities to keep throughout your day. How should we be expect to be blessed and have abundant life if we don’t put God first? If we put God first everything else will follow (Matthew 6:33). What we might be tempted to do is to lower one throughout the day of elevate one too high.
Yes, we live and serve one another, but not to the extent of compromising the priorities and values the Lord had given us. Once you make a little compromise here or there, you begin to add toxicity to your heart. The good news is that if you keep them, your heart will grow in wisdom,
6. Trust The Lord With Rest
We live in a culture that is so fast-paced, chances are you might have to spend about 30 seconds on this page, and you will be off to the next one. Productivity is elevated above all else and people are praised for getting things done. While we run around like crazy, we often forget how bad it is for our hearts. We are also telling God we don’t trust Him in the process.
When we rest in the Lord (including taking a full day off), we are declaring out dependency on Him. We are admitting we can’t do life on our own. If you think about it, your body needs sleep 1/3 of the time you are alive, Not only that, when we fall asleep or even wake up that’s only because of the Lord.
Whether you need to start observing the Sabbath, or just need to take a deep breath and let the Lord so the work instead of you, be encouraged to trust Jesus and rest. Let your heart rest, “The yoke is easy… the burden is light” (Matthew 11:30).
7. Preach The Gospel To Yourself Each Day
This last one some up everything above and couldn’t be more important. The Gospel isn’t just a “one-time” thing and a ticket to heaven, but something we all need each and every day. The secure take our eyes off of the cross we forget who we really are. Our hearts need to be reminded that while we still sin, we are forgiven, redeemed, and are children of God.
As you start your day with this reminder, you’ll have no choice but to glorify God in everything you do. You’ll begin seeing God’s hand on everything you do.
From Pity to Praise 