Being Watchful/Protecting Ourselves

Proverbs 4:23

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

The word "keep" here means to guard or protect with watchfulness. We are to guard our hearts because that's where our lives are! From what are we to keep our hearts?

Let's look at the context:
Pro 4:14-19, 24-27

Enter not into the path of the wicked, and go not in the way of evil men. Avoid it, pass not by it, turn from it, and pass away. For they sleep not, except they have done mischief; and their sleep is taken away, unless they cause some to fall. For they eat the bread of wickedness, and drink the wine of violence. But the path of the just is as the shining light, that shineth more and more unto the perfect day. The way of the wicked is as darkness: they know not at what they stumble... Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee. Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee. Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established. Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil. 

We guard our hearts from wicked ones and evil. We are in a spiritual competition instead of the spiritual war of the old testament, but we still see this principle in the church epistles and books that pertain to the church of grace.

I Thessalonians 5:21-23

Prove all things; hold fast that which is good. Abstain from all appearance of evil. And the very God of peace sanctify you wholly; and I pray God your whole spirit and soul and body be preserved blameless unto the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ.

I Peter 5:8

Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour:

 Now that we know from what we are to keep our hearts, but now, with what do we keep our hearts?
Proverbs 4:1-13, 20-22

Hear, ye children, the instruction of a father, and attend to know understanding. For I give you good doctrine, forsake ye not my law. For I was my father's son, tender and only beloved in the sight of my mother. He taught me also, and said unto me, Let thine heart retain my words: keep my commandments, and live. Get wisdom, get understanding: forget it not; neither decline from the words of my mouth. Forsake her not, and she shall preserve thee: love her, and she shall keep thee. Wisdom is the principal thing; therefore get wisdom: and with all thy getting get understanding. Exalt her, and she shall promote thee: she shall bring thee to honour, when thou dost embrace her. She shall give to thine head an ornament of grace: a crown of glory shall she deliver to thee. Hear, O my son, and receive my sayings; and the years of thy life shall be many. I have taught thee in the way of wisdom; I have led thee in right paths. When thou goest, thy steps shall not be straitened; and when thou runnest, thou shalt not stumble. Take fast hold of instruction; let her not go: keep her; for she is thy life....My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. Let them not depart from thine eyes; keep them in the midst of thine heart. For they are life unto those that find them, and health to all their flesh. 

Proverbs 5:1

 My son, attend unto my wisdom, and bow thine ear to my understanding:

Phillippians 4:6-7

Be careful for nothing; but in every thing by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known unto God. And the peace of God, which passeth all understanding, shall keep your hearts and minds through Christ Jesus.

God's peace reigns and our hearts are kept with WORDly wisdom. We put on the word diligently and apply it, and that's how we keep our hearts. What is that word, "diligence?" It means (from dictionary.com) "constant and earnest effort to accomplish what is undertaken; persistant exertion of body or mind. proper attention or care."

See the emphasis that God puts on wisdom? Wisdom is knowledge applied. When we learn what the Word says, we have knowledge. When we apply it, we have wisdom. That wisdom is what keeps our hearts and lives. The Word is practical! The best knowledge to turn into wisdom is the Word for our time in the seven church epistles! Do it diligently!

be especially good/iron sharpening iron

This morning (er...that morning, it's been a while) my roommate and I went running and were pleased to see the police academy students at the track. In particular, this morning I started paying close attention to how they treated one another. I was amazed to see how they worked together and pushed one another to succeed and grow. At one point, I saw one of the men pushing himself beyond what was simply asked of him in order to help and push one of his classmates. This man was running nearly twice as hard as he needed to! As I watched, I was so inspired and touched by this simple act that exemplified many of the qualities that we in God's household exhibit as we walk faithfully with the Love of God.

Galatians 6:10

As we have therefore opportunity, let us do good unto all men, especially unto them who are of the household of faith.

Philippians 2:4

Look not every man on his own things, but every man also on the things of others.

Just like those students, we can help each other get stronger and go further. Strength builds strength within the household and within families and within any group of people. Proverbs 27:17

Iron sharpeneth iron; so a man sharpeneth the countenance of his friend.

In the household especially, we give to one another and serve one another to build each other up and add to the strength of the body of Christ. These verses are within the context of Jesus Christ talking with his disciples and answering their question of who among them would be the greatest. Matthew 23:11-12

But he that is greatest among you shall be your servant.  And whosoever shall exalt himself shall be abased; and he that shall humble himself shall be exalted.

We don't vaunt ourselves up or focus on ourselves when others have needs. When we live life on the give, God gives back to us, and the household is stronger! We get bless and so do those around us! There is no downside to giving.

I often joke about how my roommate kicks my butt when we're exercising, but I've always been thankful for it ( a fact that I tell her often). We are members in particular, and God gave us specific functions in the body to serve, yes, but He also gave us those functions to help raise each other up and to add to the body's overall strength.

Ephesians 4:7-8, 12-15

 But unto every one of us is given grace according to the measure of the gift of Christ. Wherefore he saith, When he ascended up on high, he led captivity captive, and gave gifts unto men... For the perfecting of the saints, for the work of the ministry, for the edifying of the body of Christ: Till we all come in the unity of the faith, and of the knowledge of the Son of God, unto a perfect man, unto the measure of the stature of the fulness of Christ: That we henceforth be no more children, tossed to and fro, and carried about with every wind of doctrine, by the sleight of men, and cunning craftiness, whereby they lie in wait to deceive; But speaking the truth in love, may grow up into him in all things, which is the head, even Christ:

We function for the perfecting or maturing of the saints! We have no reason to ever not grow as we stay in the household and in fellowship with the Father because we can push ourselves and each other.
THAT'S SO COOL!

faith/believing

Hebrews 11:1,3,6

Now faith is the substance [proof] of things hoped for, the evidence of things not seen.---Through faith we understand that the worlds were framed by the word of God, so that things which are seen were not made of things which do appear.---But without faith it is impossible to please him: for he that cometh to God must believe that he is, and that he is a rewarder of them that diligently seek him.

The word "faith" in these verses is better translated "believing." God puts so much focus on believing in His Word! Believing must be important. What is believing though? Let's look into this a little bit.

The Greek word used here for faith/believing is the word pistis. In Bullinger's Lexicon, the definition given is, "firm persuasion on, the conviction which is based upon hearing, not upon sight or knowledge; a firmly relying confidence in what we hear from God and His Word. (believing)."

When we look at the root word for this word, pitho, we see that its definition is, "to persuade, win by words, influence, to speak with winning words...to be persuaded or convinced...to yield assent to, trust him, obey him, to have assurance concerning, to confide or trust to."

Knowing the definitions of these two words according to biblical usage can bring such clarity and light to this subject. Pistis is being fully persuaded on what we hear. On what are we to be fully persuaded? We get great results when we get fully persuaded on the truths in God's Word. On the other hand, we also hear things from the world. It's up to you and me to decide what we choose to "believe."

Once we are fully persuaded on something that we hear, we act on it. If I hear that a man is handing out $100 bills on the corner of my street, and I choose to believe the person that told me, I'm going to go down to the corner of my street for some free money! It's the same with what we "hear" from God's Word! We can get so fully persuaded on promises from The Word that we act on it and claim the blessings!

More noble than those

Acts 17:11

These were more noble than those [unbelieving Judeans] in Thessalonica, in that they received the Word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so.

These wonderful, noble believers were esteemed because they legitimately received the word and they took the time to consider it and make it their own. They took the time to learn and grow. They didn't passively take it in or let it go in one ear and out the other. Their focus and love for God and His Word are inspiring examples for us to follow today. God doesn't desire for His people to be passive with the study of His Word.

II Timothy 2:15

Study to show thyself approved unto God, a workman that needeth not to be ashamed, rightly dividing the Word of truth.

 The word "study" in this verse is to expend diligent effort with the brevity of time in mind. It is to make the most of your time in God's Word. For most people, the time that they spend in God's Word is the only time of day that they get to devote solely to spending time with God. Reading the Word for enjoyment is a wonderful and beautiful thing, but in order to really get blessed by it, we need to be thinking about it and mentally digesting it.

Jeremiah said, "thy words were found and I did eat them, and thy word was unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart." The word "REjoicing" means to joy again. He continued to think about those words. We can rejoice in the words of the Father as we continue to consider, think about, analyze, and seek to understand deeply what we read and study. To simply spend time looking at the words will do nothing (or at least next to nothing) for our lives. It's when we make it our own and retain it with conviction!