Proverbs 4:23-27

The book of Proverbs gives us a lot of instruction on a lot of different subjects. One subject that can keep us in God’s wisdom is Godly Follower-ship. Who we follow; where we follow; how we follow are all spoken about in Proverbs. Here is one of them about what we put into our hearts and minds:

Proverbs 4:23-27 (ESV)

Keep your heart with all vigilance,

for from it flow the springs of life.

Put away from you crooked speech,

and put devious talk far from you.

Let your eyes look directly forward,

and your gaze be straight before you.

Ponder the path of your feet;

then all your ways will be sure.

Do not swerve to the right or to the left;

turn your foot away from evil.

Solomon knows about this big idea from practical experience. Isn't it interesting that Solomon himself failed to heed this advice? He states to guard your heart is to save yourself from many problems.  Yet, he allowed his many wives to turn his heart away from God.  If you want to protect yourself from evil you have to first protect your own heart and what you bring into it. If you walk off the path you will put some things into your heart that don't belong there. Protect your heart and save your life.

The word "watch" in the above proverb is a very popular word for Solomon in Proverbs.  He uses it almost 20 times to remind us to "watch," "tend," "guard," "keep," or "preserve."  Solomon knows the evilness that is in the heart.   Our hearts are corrupt and, later stated by Jeremiah, deceitfully wicked (Jeremiah 17:9).   We are bent on sin.   As a result we have to keep watch over hour hearts so as to not allow that bent nature to bend our journey.   All the issues we have in life flow from that same old heart.  Paul knew its evil ways and tells us to not allow our instruments (our eyes, ears, mouth, feet, etc) to be controlled by the heart.  We are to yield them to the Spirit rather than the flesh (the heart).   The person who Fears The Lord and finds wisdom will find that through faith this is possible.   We cannot "watch" our heart in the flesh.   That is like having the bank robber watch the vault.   We must allow the Spirit of God to have control in our lives.  The Spirit can watch the flesh and control the flesh.   The Spirit of God and cause the instruments of the body to be used for the glory of God.   So, the command above is to "watch" the heart, but the method to do so is not our supreme diligence but rather our submitting to God via faith and allowing the Spirit of God to protect us.  The Armor of God is described for us in Ephesians.   That armor allows us to fight the flesh and through faith secure the victory.   So, our watching is done via the Spirit, not the eyes that are actually connected to the heart.

A proverb is a way to teach wisdom in a simple way with a word picture, or with contrasting or complimentary statements. This proverb is the original “garbage in—garbage out” insight. Solomon tells us in the first line to guard, or set a watch over the things that go into our heart and then in the second line, why we should do so. It is because our heart is the wellspring of the life. Another way to say this is to say, "what’s in the well, comes up in the bucket." One of the reasons we should be careful to guard our ear gates and our eye gates, is because that is the entry point for what gets into our inner soul. What we watch, listen to, observe, enters those “doors” and takes up residence in our hearts. Then, like a spring of water, it comes gushing out at a later time. We can’t expect good gushes if we have bad water in our heart. We are to take the initiative to guard our hearts. Don’t pollute the heart and the life will be fresh. A polluted heart will only produce a polluted life. Keep it fresh by what you allow to come into your heart.