Everything Comes From the Heart

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Everything we do comes from our hearts. 

One of the most succinct ways the Bible states this truth is found in Proverbs 4:23. The idea can be stated so succinctly because it contains two metaphors. The first metaphor is pretty familiar to us - your heart. 

In the mind of the author of Proverbs and his original hearers, the heart is the center of a person. The heart is comprised of the thoughts, volition, conscience and more. 

The second metaphor isn’t terribly difficult to understand either. It combines two words in the original language of Hebrew. The first word communicates the idea of the place things begin:  their source, starting point, or the place from where things outpour. The second word communicates life. So the metaphor is like a river of life or the place from where all life flows. 

Combine the two images and you get a picture of all life flowing out of the starting place of the heart. 

According to this verse, our loves and hates, inclinations and feelings, our desires and emotions motivate everything we do. 

Based on this fact, the author of Proverbs implores us to guard our hearts. How do we do that? In the context of this book, the answer is simple: seek wisdom. 

The book of Proverbs is full of things to stay away from and things to pursue. But above all, we need to note, that “wisdom” in Proverbs is a character. She is a person who we seek after and who comes to us. 

Bible scholars have long noted that Jesus is the final embodiment of lady wisdom. He is the one who reveals God to us. He is the one who changes our hearts with his Spirit. He is the Word of God who comes to us. He is the face of God we seek. 

How do we guard our hearts? We seek after Jesus. We rejoice in the truth of the Gospel. We meditate on the gift of the cross. We rejoice in the power of the resurrection. We listen to the teachings of his lips. We follow the voice of his Spirit. We wait eagerly for the return of his full and final presence. 

Everything you do comes from the heart. You want to change what you do? Seek after Jesus and he will guard your heart.

Keep your heart with all diligence, For out of it spring the issues of life. 

~ ‭Proverbs 4:23 NKJV‬

Read more of this study here:

http://bible.com/r/3K7

Rewire Your Heart: 10 Days To Fight Sin



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