Guard Your Heart—Keep Your Confession Pure

David W Palmer

The following passage from God’s wisdom talks about filling your heart with his words. This is because what fills and overflows your heart are the “issues of life,” which determine the “course of your life.” Let’s read this crucial passage from two different translations, so we can pick up all the subtle nuances—one version now, the other at the end. Remember, this is God your Father speaking to you:

(Proverbs 4:20–24 AKJV) “My son, attend to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. {21} Let them not depart from your eyes; keep them in the middle of your heart. {22} For they are life to those that find them, and health to all their flesh. {23} Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. {24} Put away from you a fraudulent mouth, and perverse lips put far from you.”

Here we see that God directs us—for our own good—to:

“Attend to my words,” or give your attention and priority to God’s word. Then he breaks this overarching instruction down into three practical ways to obey it:

“Incline your ear to my sayings.” This is God’s first way to “attend” to his words. This is about listening to them; so let’s ensure that we are constantly hearing the audio bible, listening to trusted preachers, teachers, prophets, etc.—both live and by electronic means.

“Let them not depart from your eyes.” The meaning here is clear; we need to read God’s word as well as hear it. So, let’s prioritise reading the Bible, good books, teachings, posters, sticky notes, screensavers, or any other way to keep God’s word before our eyes.

“Keep them in the middle of your heart.” This is crucial; it goes with God’s instruction to Joshua to meditate in his word, and it fits with Psalm 1 where God describes the “blessed” man; he meditates in God’s word day and night. Jesus said, “Take heed what you hear” (Mark 4:24 KJV). This also means to take it to heart, revolve it in your thinking, muse on it, and mutter it until you know it off by heart and receive God’s revelation of its meaning. Chewing over God’s word like this will keep it in the midst of your heart and feed your spirit—your inner man.

God then says about his words—the ones we hear, have before our eyes, and keep central in our hearts—that they are “life” and “health.” Jesus confirms that the words that overflow from our hearts are life:

(John 6:63 NKJV) “It is the Spirit who gives life; the flesh profits nothing. The words that I speak to you are spirit, and they are life.”

Following God’s instructions about the right use and priority of his words will bring you into the experience of his “life” that Jesus described like this:

(John 4:14 NKJV) “But whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him will never thirst. But the water that I shall give him will become in him a fountain of water springing up into everlasting life.”

Jesus says that the life that comes to us via his words, which get into our hearts and then overflow through our mouths, will be like “a fountain of water springing up.” I encourage you to go after this genuine, effervescent, springing water of life; it’s the real experience of bubbling joy, satisfaction, and aliveness that we all seek. Don’t go after the counterfeits of stimulants, entertainments, titillation, or the temporary excitement of winning—at sports, politics, arguments, or on life’s ladders of relative standing. With priority, go after the true water of life that comes from God alone:

(Jeremiah 2:13 NKJV) “For My people have committed two evils: They have forsaken Me, the fountain of living waters, And hewn themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that can hold no water.”

From verse 23 of our original Scripture, we see that God next says: “Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Keep or guard your heart. Because the heart can overflow with God’s essence of life, because it can overflow with health for your flesh, and because—as we have been studying in this series of devotional teachings—its overflow can steer your whole life and those under your covering; God says to protect as your utmost priority what you allow to enter your heart.

Your heart is your responsibility. Whatever you fill it with will overflow into words, and the words will ultimately control your life, your flesh, and set your destiny. With love, our Lord Jesus said:

(Luke 6:45 NKJV) “A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good; and an evil man out of the evil treasure of his heart brings forth evil. For out of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaks.”

If you want to be one who “brings forth good”; if you want to avoid being one who “brings forth evil,” and “defiles the whole body,” fill your heart with good. This will ensure that its overflow through your mouth is good. Then you will bring forth good through your life:

(Matthew 15:11, 18 NKJV) “Not what goes into the mouth defiles a man; but what comes out of the mouth, this defiles a man." ... {18} But those things which proceed out of the mouth come from the heart, and they defile a man.”

Jesus said this to help us identify the source of what happens in our lives—both good and bad. He also explained just how important our words are in God’s sight:

(Matthew 12:36–37 NKJV) “But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. {37} For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.”

Yes, God doesn’t look on the outward appearance, position, title, notoriety, or prominence to judge us:

(1 Samuel 16:7 NKJV) But the LORD said to Samuel, “Do not look at his appearance or at his physical stature, because I have refused him. For the LORD does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart.”

The easiest way to estimate the state of a person’s heart is simply to check the words that overflow from it out of their mouth:

(Matthew 12:34–35 NKJV) “Brood of vipers! How can you, being evil, speak good things? For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaks. {35} A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things.”

Your words are crucial, heart-revealing, and pivotal for the outcomes of your life. They can steer your life into either good or evil. Plus, they can direct not only your life, but also the lives of those over whom God has given you the responsibility to guide and lead (See: James 3:4). That’s why God will judge your words (See: Mat. 12:36, Heb. 4:12–13); they reveal what he is interested in, your heart from where they overflow. So, let’s guard and protect our hearts from anything that won’t overflow in life and health.

Let’s now read our opening passage from another version to remind us of God’s emphasis on this all-important priority. Note particularly how he begins with our attention to his word, next speaks of the heart as determining the “course of your life,” and ends on the topic of our words:

(Proverbs 4:20–24 NLT) “My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. {21} Don’t lose sight of them. Let them penetrate deep into your heart, {22} for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body. {23} Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. {24} Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.”