“Guard your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life” – Proverbs 4:23

The Lord instructs us to guard our hearts with diligence; meaning we need to guard our heart with all care, persistent work or effort. We must take extreme care of our heart and maintain a healthy atmosphere because out of the heart come the issues of life. Therefore we need to take care what we feed our hearts; what we allow into our hearts; and what we permit to live and grow in our hearts. The heart is like a fountain; a spring of either a clean or dirty flow of life. It cannot release healthy blood to the rest of the body, if it is filled with sickness or poison (remember there is life in the blood and atonement of our souls through the blood). But what flows from the heart?

Luke 6:45 “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

We need to guard our hearts because what comes into our hearts is open to being treasured. The heart has many valves which open to recieve and to release blood; just like it opens to recieve and release issues of life. Not all issues that we recieve into our hearts are pure and for good; but the treasure stored up in our hearts determines how these issues are released into our lives.

When we treasure evil things like bitterness, hatred, anger, jealousy, or any form of wickedness towards our neighbour; any issue that passes though our hearts, whether good or bad; will only be released with a stain of the same wickedness. And likewise; when we treasure the Word of God in our hearts; any issue that passes through our hearts, whether good or bad; will be released into life purified by the Word in our hearts.

Therefore, to add the scripture that says out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks; the Lord teaches us that “A man’s stomach shall be satisfied from the fruit of his mouth; From the produce of his lips he shall be filled.(Proverbs 18:20)

God’s heart is filled with Light; and there is no darkness in Him; therefore He said “Let there be light; and then there was light”. The issues of life are released from the heart by way of the tongue which cannot be tamed; but the produce of our lips can be filtered by filtering or guarding our hearts continually.

T.W.Moagi