How’s Your Heart?

October 25, 2026

Proverbs 4:23 reminds us, "Guard your heart above all else, for it is the source of life.” Like so many Bible passages, this short little verse packs a lot of meat on the bone. Because our heart (mind, will) directs the course of our lives, we must guard it intentionally. I have been familiar with this verse for fifty-plus years, but I have only recently begun to really let it take root in my heart. When I was younger, I could quote and preach this verse, but I didn’t apply it well. If I had, I would have saved myself a lot of grief and heartache. This verse tells us that the heart is the source of life. This is true physically and spiritually. Most of us try to take reasonably good care of our physical heart because we don’t want it to conk out on us prematurely. Why don’t we take the same care of our heart spiritually?  If we're honest, it is because

guarding our hearts means disciplining ourselves and telling ourselves “No”. Most of us humans aren’t very good at that, are we? Guarding our hearts requires intentionality. We must pay close attention to the influences, thoughts, and relationships that invade our hearts, and we must learn to “take every thought captive,” as Paul tells us in 2 Corinthians 10:5. Just as eating a healthy diet requires effort, so does guarding our hearts. We can’t let our guard down, because if we do, Satan, the world, and our own fleshly desires wait at the door to gain entrance into our hearts. A guarded heart produces a godly life. Christian brother or sister, if we aren’t walking with God as closely as we would like, it most likely is a heart problem. There are all kinds of spiritual heart ailments. Hard hearts, cold hearts, divided hearts, disloyal hearts. The list could go on and on. Just as many of us see a cardiologist for our heart health, even more of us need to go to Dr. Jesus for His healing. God truly is the Great Physician. So, remember, guard your heart, because the direction of your life flows from what you allow into it.

Be blessed and then go be a blessing . . . Bro. Andy