Dave's Diary

Prayer

Father, I praise You as the Giver of all True Life. And I bless You for sharing Your Words of Life with us in the Bible. As I approach Your Word today, please speak Life to me. Amen.

Reading

Read Proverbs 4 slowly and prayerfully. Notice which verse particularly jumps out at you. Re-read that verse a few times slowly. Write it down in your journal. Try to memorise it so that you can reflect on it without having to read from the page.

Prayerful Reflection

Now take that Proverb and think about your life at the moment. Is there a situation in your life to which that Proverb applies. Ask the Lord how this verse from His Word is telling you to live out His wisdom in that situation. Make notes in your journal.

A Devotional Thought

Proverbs 4: 
²³ Above all else, guard your heart,
    for everything you do flows from it.
²⁴ Keep your mouth free of perversity;
    keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
²⁵ Let your eyes look straight ahead;
    fix your gaze directly before you.

When a verse starts with the words, “Above all else”, we need to pay very close attention. Clearly, “guarding our hearts” is a matter of great importance! And remember, Jesus also taught us in Matthew 12:34-35 that good and evil flow from within the human heart. Whether our lives are going to have an impact for good or for evil starts in the heart.

As I ponder the meaning of this, it strikes me that the role of a guard is to take firm control over what enters and exits. This helps me to make the connection between these three verses. Guarding my heart entails taking control of what enters it, and Jesus said that the eyes are the doorway to the heart (Matthew 6:22-23). But if the eyes are the front door, I suspect the ears are the back door. So it is vital that I take firm control of what I listen to and what I look at (Proverbs 4:25). In other words, “Lord help me to guard the entrance to my heart!”

While that is where it all starts, the impact of a heart that has been corrupted by evil is at least kept in check if one does not let its fruit out of one’s mouth. Once evil has escaped our mouths there is no taking it back and the impact spreads far and wide. So it is just as important to keep my mouth closed while I carefully check whether what I am about to say is pure or corrupt, holy or perverse! (Proverbs 4:24) In other words, “Lord help me to guard the exit to my heart!”

Prayer

Lord give me the grace today to guard both the entrance to my heart by keeping a close watch on what I look at and listen to, and the exit of my heart by keeping a close watch on what I speak. Amen.