DILIGENTLY WATCHING OVER OUR HEART

Proverbs 4:23 (NASB)

[23] Watch over your heart with all diligence, 

For from it flow the springs of life.

Diligence is a character, an attitude, that is essential in this world.  In school we are told to be diligent students.  When we graduate and work, or we put up our own business, we are to be diligent.  In our homes, or with our families, diligence is expected.  What about the Christian life?

What does it mean to be diligent?

According to the Merriam Webster dictionary to be diligent means - “characterized by steady, earnest, and energetic effort : PAINSTAKING”

Shouldn’t this be what describes our Christian life or walk with God?  And yet the “default” attitude of our hearts is to be lax, or relaxed, in our Christianity.  It’s a result of our sinful nature really, for our nature is to please ourselves and our flesh, and not God.  This is why the underlying teaching of God’s Word is really for His people to diligently seek Him and walk after Him.

The proverb above tells us to diligently watch over our heart.  The NIV translates it “guard our heart”.  We are to watch over or guard our hearts diligently. 

How do we diligently guard our hearts?  Let me share a few verses of Scripture to show us how we are to diligently guard or watch our hearts:

Psalms 119:11 (NIV)

[11] I have hidden your word in my heart 

that I might not sin against you.

When we steadily, earnestly and energetically hide God’s Word in our hearts we have a treasure trove of truth, wisdom and guidance that we can easily run to when we face the many challenges of life.  

How much of God’s Word are we hiding in our hearts?  Are our hearts so filled with God’s word that they automatically contradict what the world teaches or tells us?

Colossians 3:1-2 (NASB)

[1] Therefore if you have been raised up with Christ, keep seeking the things above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. [2] Set your mind on the things above, not on the things that are on earth. 

Here in this passage the heart and the mind seem to be working hand in hand.  We are to KEEP SEEKING THE THINGS ABOVE, not on earthly things.

How we fail in this area, right?  Most of us have set our hearts and minds on the things of the earth.  And why not, because we are people of the earth.  But this is why we are to be diligent to seek the things above, rather than the things of the earth.

We take pride of spending a few minutes and hours in our “prayer time”, and yet the remaining hours of the day are spent with the news, social media, soap operas, love stories, gossip, etc.

Matthew 6:19-21 (NIV)

[19] “Do not store up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust destroy, and where thieves break in and steal. [20] But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where moth and rust do not destroy, and where thieves do not break in and steal. [21] For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.

We guard our hearts through the treasure that is stored within.  We need to eventually decide what we consider treasure in our hearts - the things of the earth, or the “things” of heaven.  As our Lord tells us - where our treasure is, there will our hearts be also.

So, if in our hearts our treasure is still money, material things, position, enjoyment, etc., then our hearts will be running after these things also.

But when we store treasures in heaven, our hearts are guarded from the lures and temptations of this world, and seek the will of God and the things that glorify His name.

Colossians 3:22-24 (NIV)

[22] Slaves, obey your earthly masters in everything; and do it, not only when their eye is on you and to win their favor, but with sincerity of heart and reverence for the Lord. [23] Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men, [24] since you know that you will receive an inheritance from the Lord as a reward. It is the Lord Christ you are serving. 

In everything that we do, whether it is in our worldly work (as referred to by Paul in verse 22), or in ministry, we are to work at it WITH ALL OUR HEART.

When we work realizing that what we are doing we are doing for the Lord and not for men, it will set the right attitude and hope, knowing that it is God who is glorified.  It is the Lord Christ we are serving, not man.

Proverbs 3:5-6 (NIV)

[5] Trust in the LORD with all your heart 

and lean not on your own understanding;

[6] in all your ways acknowledge him, 

and he will make your paths straight.

We are to watch our hearts daily, every moment of the day, that our trust does not veer to other men, or ourselves, but will be wholly in the Lord.  We are to acknowledge Him in all that we do.

The world subtly brings our heart away from the Lord and to other people or things.  When trouble, sickness, and other things come our way, our hearts are shaken and we fix our trust on other things aside from the Lord.

This is why we are to keep watch over our hearts always, that we remain in His grace and faithfulness everyday.

How essential it is for us to be diligently watching over our hearts.  Or, as the NIV version says:

Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)

[23] Above all else, guard your heart, 

for it is the wellspring of life.

Above all else, above everything else, we are to diligently guard, watch over our hearts, that the life of the Lord may overflow into our lives.

ARE WE EARNESTLY SEEKING GOD?

Psalms 63:1-11 NIV A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah. O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water. (2) I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. (3) Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. (4) I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands. (5) My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. (6) On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. (7) Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. (8) My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

There are many today who claim that they are seeking God.  What does it really mean to seek God earnestly?  

Why was David was in the desert of Judah?  It wasn't  for a vacation, nor was he just passing through. 

Look how the psalm ends:

(9) They who seek my life will be destroyed; they will go down to the depths of the earth.  (10) They will be given over to the sword and become food for jackals. (11) But the king will rejoice in God; all who swear by God's name will praise him, while the mouths of liars will be silenced.

There were people seeking his life.  He was running from them, which led him to the desert.  Imagine being pursued by people who wanted to kill him.  You can imagine the anxiety, the fear.  But in this time of fear and anxiety, what did David long for?  Was it to for God to take him away from the desert, to deliver him from his enemies?

Notice, in his psalm, what David longed for.  While in a desert, lacking water and food, fleeing from his enemies, what was it that David sought for.

(1)  O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek you; my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water.

In a dry and weary land where there was no water, David wasn't thinking of water or food.  His soul earnestly sought for God, thirsted for God.  His body longed for God.  In a dry and weary land where there was no water he earnestly sought for the Lord to satisfy his soul.  He wasn’t crying out for water or food.  It was what his soul longed for that was of utmost priority to David.

In a difficult situation David longed for spiritual satisfaction.  It wasn’t the Lord bringing him out of the desert that he was longing for.  He was simply longing for God.

Was he seeking God to take him out of the desert, or to give him water and food while in the desert?

(2) I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory. (3) Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. (4) I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

David proclaimed "because YOUR LOVE IS BETTER THAN LIFE".  Really?  For David the love of God, being assured of His love, was better than life.  More important than what he was going through and experiencing was the knowledge and assurance of God's love.  That's what he was earnestly seeking for.

Think about this for a while, meditate upon it.  Can we say the same thing?  That knowing God’s love, His unfailing love, is better than life?  In other words, it doesn’t matter what I have or don’t have in this life, as long as I am assured of the love of God.

If we're honest enough, that's not how we think.  Sadly, we usually equate God’s love with what He gives, or what He does in our life.  When times are bad, we want God to show us His love by turning it into good.  In a sense we're saying "our life is better than Your Love".

 (5) My soul will be satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you. (6) On my bed I remember you; I think of you through the watches of the night. (7) Because you are my help, I sing in the shadow of your wings. (8) My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.

With this assurance of God’s love, David proclaimed that his SOUL WILL BE SATISFIED AS WITH THE RICHEST OF FOODS.  It was his soul that was satisifed, not his body.  It didn't matter if this thirst and hunger weren't satisfied.  What was important was that his soul had it's fill - as with the richest of foods!  And that's where our praise comes from.

Many times the praise that come from our mouth is when God satisfies our stomachs with the richest of foods.  But for David it didn’t matter if he was hungry and lacking food.  What was more important was that his soul was satisfied, filled, as if he had just had a heavy meal.

When David was in the desert, it was his soul that needed satisfaction, assurance, not his body.

Have you noticed that when we are in our own “desert”, the first thing we seek is for God to take us out of the desert, or for him to meet our needs while in the desert – to satisfy the thirst of our bodies, the hunger of our stomachs.  We want our stomachs to be satisfied with the richest of foods.  What we experience or have in life seems to be more important than His love.

We don’t seek the satisfaction of our souls.  It seems to be the last priority.

This is why there are so many Christians who are discontent, frustrated and still longing for things in life – the first thing we want satisfied is our bodies, and not our soul.

But for a true believer, we know that true satisfaction, real satisfaction, is found in our soul.  And only God can satisfy the soul.  Not water or food, not money or material things, not fame or fortune.  Only God.

This is why God sent His Son, Jesus Christ, to die for our sins – to bring us back to the Only One who can really satisfy our souls.

What satisfaction does our soul need?  The mistake that many make with God is that we think He satisfies our soul with the life of this world, with material things or earthly satisfactions.  That’s why we look for answer to prayer, the “blessed” life, to satisfy us.

God first satisfies our soul, renews His love for us, by giving us eternal life. Sin separated us from God, and made us focus on our self, and the world.  This is the reason we don’t seek for God is because sin has separated us from God and has made us blind to who He is, and the spiritual satisfaction He gives.  And so we seek satisfaction in our bodies, in our self, our lives.

We are restored to eternal life, to His life, through Jesus Christ.  His death was a sacrifice offered for us, in our stead, so that we could be reconciled to God.

John 1:4 NIV In him was life, and that life was the light of men.

And when one is reconciled to God, and we are given the gift of eternal life, there is no earthly life, or earthly thing, that can satisfy our soul compared to this.

God places us in a “desert” situation to make us realize that the things of this world do not satisfy us.  Only God can refresh our soul, as with the richest of food.  We can have little, and still be blessed.  We can by hungry, and yet our souls are filled.

John 4:13-14 NIV Jesus answered, "Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, (14) but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

John 6:35 NIV Then Jesus declared, "I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will never go hungry, and he who believes in me will never be thirsty.