Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. — Proverbs 4:23
Not one single person who reads what I say will disagree that we have issues in our lives. We have issues in our nation and world. We have issues in the homes across our country. We even have issues in the churches across our country. Our world is absolutely filled with issues.
Some may say the issues lie as a result of one particular political party. Others will blame people from a certain area of the country while others may say it’s corporate America creating issues for the workers. Aside from where they are laying the blame, they are all in agreement that we have issues.
Proverbs 4:23 tells that the source of the issues of life are not in all the places we like to place blame, but rather in the heart. The writer says that the most important thing you can do is to keep, or guard, your heart. It is the idea that we keep it from wickedness, crookedness, and from a distorted view. That would certainly change our world, wouldn’t it?
If we had people in our world that did not look at life through selfishness but rather through the lens that everyone alive is a sinner, it would change our world. If we had a world that focused on the value of life rather than the convenience of murder, it would change our world. If the people in our day would focus on their love of Christ rather than the pleasures of the world, our world would never be the same.
As the writer says, we must keep our heart with “all diligence.” It means it is a constant, never-ending act that is of extreme importance. The key to life’s issues is to make sure that our heart is focused on God and guarded against the wickedness of the world.