Today’s Proverbial Summer reading is July 4th / Proverbs 4. Our Scripture highlight includes: “Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.”
Read it!
To read Proverbs 4, click HERE.
Summer Highlights:
Prov. 4:23-27
“Keep your heart with all vigilance,
Proverbs 4:23-27 (ESV)
for from it flow the springs of life.
24Put away from you crooked speech,
and put devious talk far from you.
25Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.”
Keep Your Heart
“Follow your heart” is a popular saying today, but it is not biblical. Christians are told to follow Jesus and obey Him, not their hearts!
Here in Proverbs, Solomon cautions us to keep our hearts. I think of it like housekeeping. In a house, if you let trash pile up and allow clutter to come in and remain, those who live in the house will soon be overwhelmed by things that prevent them from living well.
If, however, you make a regular practice of taking out the trash and sorting through the clutter, removing what does not belong, only holding on to what is good, and not allowing things you know are bad or harmful to come in, your home will help you live well.
Verses 24-27 give us some straightforward “housekeeping” instructions for our hearts.
“Put away from you crooked speech,
Proverbs 4:24-27 (ESV)
and put devious talk far from you.
25Let your eyes look directly forward,
and your gaze be straight before you.
26Ponder the path of your feet;
then all your ways will be sure.
27Do not swerve to the right or to the left;
turn your foot away from evil.”
These instructions address our mouths, eyes, minds, and bodies.
- Put crooked (dishonest) speech & devious (tricky) talk far from your mouth. Speak truthfully, unselfishly, & graciously.
- Look directly forward with your eyes. No sideways glances at things that tempt you to leave God’s will.
- Think before you step! Don’t walk forward without taking precautions or seeking God’s guidance.
- Don’t step off the path of God’s best for your life by walking away from His commandments.
What about that word “vigilance”?
Vigilance is simply “the process of paying close and continuous attention” (vocabulary.com). We are instructed in Proverbs 4:23-27 to pay close and continuous attention to what we let into and keep out of our hearts.
“From it flow the springs of life”?
There are some people who try to use this part of Proverbs 4:23 to say “following your heart” is biblical. We have already seen that the context of verses 24-27 shows us otherwise. The point is that we are easily moved and persuaded by what is going on in our hearts, so we should be responsible housekeepers, letting wisdom in and keeping foolishness & wickedness out.
My Prayer for You
“O God, God of our fathers Abraham, Isaac, and Israel, keep this generous spirit alive forever in these people always, keep their hearts set firmly in you. And give my son Solomon an uncluttered and focused heart so that he can obey what you command, live by your directions and counsel, and carry through with building The Temple for which I have provided.”
I Chronicles 29:18-19 (MSG)
Today, I pray for you as King David prayed in these verses for his people & his son Solomon, the very one who wrote Proverbs 4:23-27.
Father God,
Keep the hearts of these Your people set firmly in You.
Give them uncluttered & focused hearts so they can obey what You command, live by Your directions and counsel, and carry through with all the plans You have for them, since they are, individually and collectively, temples of Your Holy Spirit.
In Jesus’ name,
Amen.
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