by Mary Kirkwood
Guarding The Heart
" Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life " (PROVERBS 4:23).
God is instructing us to keep careful guard of our hearts, and to make this our top priority, "for out of it are the issues of life." What a difference it would make in our lives, if we followed this precept. Countless marriages would be saved, family relationships would not be severed and hurtful words would not be uttered. "For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies" (Matthew 15:19).
The more we study the Bible, the more we understand the truth that we are all born sinners with a heart that is desperately wicked. The only accurate description of the human heart is found in Jeremiah 17:9, 10a: "The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it? I the Lord search the heart."
I will never forget, the first time I heard, that our worst enemy is within, our old nature, which we inherited from the first Adam. Our old nature is not interested in the things of God. He is the enemy of God, and is open to God's enemy, Satan. But, thank God when we were born from above, we inherited our new nature, that can never sin, and is vitally interested in pleasing our Saviour. The war between the old nature and the new nature will continue until the rapture or our death. Understanding the two natures is one of the most beneficial aids in living the Christian life.
When we are born from above, we are compared to a newborn baby. We desperately need instructions on how to live the Christian life. Thank God, He did not leave us as orphans, but tells us, "I will instruct thee and teach thee in the way which thou shalt go: I will guide thee with mine eye" (Psalm 32:8). As babies need food to grow and mature, we need God's word more than anything else to survive and be fruitful in a world that seems to have gone mad. No matter how old we are, when we are born from above, we have to grow and mature day by day, just as babies mature. Our heavenly Father knew we would be overwhelmed and despair of the Christian life if we expected to keep all His instructions the first day we were saved. The Holy Spirit instructs us, as we allow His word to focus on Christ, and day by day our goal is to be more like Him.
Parenting is the most important job we will ever undertake, but also one of the most wonderful privileges we will ever experience. We never realize how difficult it is until we have our own children. Our children are dependent on us when they are infants, and it is our responsibility to help them to become independent as they grow and mature. It is exactly opposite with our spiritual life. The more we grow in grace and in the knowledge of our Lord, the more we realize our need of His word to direct, guide, encourage and meet all our spiritual needs. We can do nothing without him (John 15:5), but thank God, we are told in Philippians 4:13, "I can do all things through Christ that strengtheneth me."
Since the battle between the old nature and the new nature is fought in the mind, it is essential that we take very careful guard of our thinking. Every sin originated in the mind. God tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5b, "bringing into captivity every thought to the obedience of Christ." We will be making very important choices each day, and all our choices have consequences. None of us can afford to daydream and allow the old nature to choose the subject of our thinking. Until our last day on Earth, both natures will be fighting to win that battle.
Only believers have the option to make the right choice. God has made a perfect provision for everyone that is born again. As we study the word of God, we find there is no problem we face in life that He has not addressed. He even tells us what we should be focused on in Philippians 4:8: "Finally, brethren, whatsoever things are true, whatsoever things are honest, whatsoever things are just, whatsoever things are pure, whatsoever things are lovely, whatsoever things are of good report; if there be any virtue, and if there be any praise, think on these things."
What every believer needs to realize is that God saved us from Hell, but He had so much more for us to experience in the Christian life. The Lord Jesus tells us in John 10:10b, "I am come that they might have life, and that they might have it more abundantly." Very few of us realize the extent of our spiritual wealth in Christ. One of the saddest things, in the life experience of most believers is our neglect of studying the Word of God. A well-known Bible teacher said that the Bible has been the best seller for years, but when a poll was taken recently it was discovered that it is one of the most neglected books, even among professing Christians.
We will never be sinlessly perfect while we are here on Earth. Our goal in life should be to live a life that will please Him, even though we fail many times. What a day we have to look forward to, when we are in Heaven, and can say, for the first time, "I do always those things that please Him," as our Saviour said when He was here on Earth.
God has given us His word to keep us from being deceived by our enemy, and when we feed our new nature, and starve the old nature, we grow stronger in our desire to please Him. What we hear, what we read, and what we see, play a big part in feeding our new nature or old nature. We are told in Proverbs 23:7a, "For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he."
As believers we are free to choose the direction of our life. God will never force-feed His children, but has equipped every believer with everything we need to grow in grace. As long as we are in this body, the two natures will be trying to dominate our choices in everything we think and do, but only believers can dismiss the wrong thoughts and replace them with our meditating on our countless blessings in Christ. Satan is an expert in showing us our problems and sins, but when we refuse to go that route, and look to Him that is perfect and meditate on His countless attributes, we can know His peace and joy.
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