Snipit #7
New International Version
Proverbs 4:23 - “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
This is a short verse that packs a big punch. The only thing that keeps me from stating it more in public is its abusive overuse by religious zealots wanting to promote their rigid and dogmatic agenda of sin management. I remember hating this verse I heard it so much. The only verse I loathed more was “…flee from all appearance of evil”. It’s hard for humans to let verses speak for themselves, especially when we desperately need them to speak for us. These verses never seemed to get proper justice in interpretation. For some reason they induced an attitude of isolation and elitism. People started to erect walls around their lives that were uncalled for, and over time, verses like this got swallowed up in legalistic dogma.
“Above all else…” There is no ambiguity about what kind of right of way the heart has in the pecking order of priorities. The reason the heart has this kind of preeminence is because it’s a person, the real you. One thing I’ve learned is that it can’t be treated like a thing, it has to take on a persona, a life of its own. The Psalmist was even so bold as to speak to his own heart and soul as if there was another person under there. He called it his inner being. Paul called it his inner man. But whatever you call it, you have to treat it as “person”al. The minute the heart turns into a sort of mother board, engine, or cockpit, you start treating it like a mechanic would a motor or an electrician would a circuit board. The relationship goes utilitarian in a hurry no matter how hard you try to prevent it from happening.
There is nothing more important. There is no issue worth more discussion. In our fight to maintain purity of doctrine, the doctrine of the heart has to hit the top of the charts. There are books, debates and even denominations that have emphasized every other thing imaginable in the Scriptures, but I find it disappointing that the heart hasn’t gotten the same air time. We can say it’s above all else, but our seminaries and sermons often tell a different story. So much time is spent on almost every other issue and the doctrine of the heart is often tacked on the back side like a pretty prayer after a hostile business meeting. I guess I’m trying to make a case for the heart again. After all, it’s supposedly above all else in matter of importance.
“Guard your heart…” This doesn’t mean hide your heart, isolate your heart, minimize your heart, legislate your heart, or police your heart. The word guard carries the idea of protecting or nurturing. I’ve found over the years that nothing is attacked as much as the heart. I find myself defending it against the most unlikely things. I always thought that I would have to protect my heart from the “big, bad world out there”. Though this is true, I’ve found the greatest battles to be inside the bubble of religion. Friendly fire is the cause of the most Christian casualties. I heard it said once that the church is the only place where we “shoot our wounded”. It’s sad, but often true. This is not to say that church cannot provide a haven for the heart, but it has been the source of much damage as well. I think the reason for this is because people let their “guard down” in the church figuring it to be a safe place to lick their wounds. But I’ve witnessed more assaults on the heart within the church than without over the years. When the heart is offended, it must be defended. When we let it take hits without a fight, we have already signed our own death warrant.
“It is the wellspring of life…” It is the life of the party. It is where the action is. You can’t live without it. I mean, you can live, but you can’t be alive. (Just like about two minutes ago. I received a phone call that tightened my heart. I could, honest to goodness, feel my heart constrict inside my chest with every word the other person shared. My quality of life took a hit. Even now I’m trying to nurture it back to health.) The heart is central to the story of anyone’s life. One of my greatest fears in life is to eventually become heartless. To merely exist and cohabit the planet with others, but to move about lifelessly, heartlessly. God, teach me to give proper attention to my heart and the hearts of others. The greatest way to redeem the time is to honor your heart.
Proverbs 4:23 - “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.”
This is a short verse that packs a big punch. The only thing that keeps me from stating it more in public is its abusive overuse by religious zealots wanting to promote their rigid and dogmatic agenda of sin management. I remember hating this verse I heard it so much. The only verse I loathed more was “…flee from all appearance of evil”. It’s hard for humans to let verses speak for themselves, especially when we desperately need them to speak for us. These verses never seemed to get proper justice in interpretation. For some reason they induced an attitude of isolation and elitism. People started to erect walls around their lives that were uncalled for, and over time, verses like this got swallowed up in legalistic dogma.
“Above all else…” There is no ambiguity about what kind of right of way the heart has in the pecking order of priorities. The reason the heart has this kind of preeminence is because it’s a person, the real you. One thing I’ve learned is that it can’t be treated like a thing, it has to take on a persona, a life of its own. The Psalmist was even so bold as to speak to his own heart and soul as if there was another person under there. He called it his inner being. Paul called it his inner man. But whatever you call it, you have to treat it as “person”al. The minute the heart turns into a sort of mother board, engine, or cockpit, you start treating it like a mechanic would a motor or an electrician would a circuit board. The relationship goes utilitarian in a hurry no matter how hard you try to prevent it from happening.
There is nothing more important. There is no issue worth more discussion. In our fight to maintain purity of doctrine, the doctrine of the heart has to hit the top of the charts. There are books, debates and even denominations that have emphasized every other thing imaginable in the Scriptures, but I find it disappointing that the heart hasn’t gotten the same air time. We can say it’s above all else, but our seminaries and sermons often tell a different story. So much time is spent on almost every other issue and the doctrine of the heart is often tacked on the back side like a pretty prayer after a hostile business meeting. I guess I’m trying to make a case for the heart again. After all, it’s supposedly above all else in matter of importance.
“Guard your heart…” This doesn’t mean hide your heart, isolate your heart, minimize your heart, legislate your heart, or police your heart. The word guard carries the idea of protecting or nurturing. I’ve found over the years that nothing is attacked as much as the heart. I find myself defending it against the most unlikely things. I always thought that I would have to protect my heart from the “big, bad world out there”. Though this is true, I’ve found the greatest battles to be inside the bubble of religion. Friendly fire is the cause of the most Christian casualties. I heard it said once that the church is the only place where we “shoot our wounded”. It’s sad, but often true. This is not to say that church cannot provide a haven for the heart, but it has been the source of much damage as well. I think the reason for this is because people let their “guard down” in the church figuring it to be a safe place to lick their wounds. But I’ve witnessed more assaults on the heart within the church than without over the years. When the heart is offended, it must be defended. When we let it take hits without a fight, we have already signed our own death warrant.
“It is the wellspring of life…” It is the life of the party. It is where the action is. You can’t live without it. I mean, you can live, but you can’t be alive. (Just like about two minutes ago. I received a phone call that tightened my heart. I could, honest to goodness, feel my heart constrict inside my chest with every word the other person shared. My quality of life took a hit. Even now I’m trying to nurture it back to health.) The heart is central to the story of anyone’s life. One of my greatest fears in life is to eventually become heartless. To merely exist and cohabit the planet with others, but to move about lifelessly, heartlessly. God, teach me to give proper attention to my heart and the hearts of others. The greatest way to redeem the time is to honor your heart.
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