Reading Plan: 

Proverbs 4 

Guarding Your Heart 

Author: Austin Sines 

Have you noticed that if something is important, you guard it? If you have a wallet, you don’t leave it out where anyone can take it. If you cross the street, you look both ways to be sure no cars are coming. We spend lots of effort each day keeping our bodies and possessions safe. We do this out of habit or without even really thinking about it. 

In today’s reading, we came across one of my favorite scriptures, verse 23. We’re encouraged to guard our hearts above all else. That means that we should make it a priority. We should make guarding our hearts important. Just like we would guard our wallet or another important possession, we should guard our heart with the same zeal that we do with other things in our life. However, when it comes to our hearts, many times we throw caution to the wind. We don’t pay attention to the people we date, the friendships we make, or the influences we let in our life that aren’t pleasing to God. 

The heart in the human body keeps us alive. I’m not a doctor or a scientist, but I do know if your heart isn't beating, you aren’t alive. The heart that Solomon is talking about in today's reading isn't the same, but it's just as important. The heart that Solomon is talking about is the source of life. It’s where love and feelings come from. And this is why it's so important to guard it. Guard it against the external influences in your life, the thoughts that pop up in your mind, and any other aspect of your life that could create a gap between you and God's will in your life. Oftentimes in my life, I let something bad that happens to me create feelings that separate me from the comfort that God’s truth otherwise could give me. I truly think that the reason we grow apart from God in hard times instead of growing closer to Him is because of the thoughts or feelings manufactured in our mind. If we guard our hearts in the way that Solomon so delicately explains, we will become more impervious to enemy attacks and their affect on our relationship with God. We need to learn to guard our hearts, above all else, because it's our source of life as a Christian.  

Reflection: 

• Which areas in your life do you need to guard your heart? 
• Think about and identify your weaknesses. For me, I am an incredibly emotional guy, if you don’t believe me, ask my wife who makes fun of me for it in the most loving way. I know this is a weakness and have to be guarded more because of the way my feelings could affect my heart. Identifying our weaknesses will be very beneficial to us because it will give us a starting point to strengthen these areas not by our own doing but through God’s strength.  
  
• Prayer: God, thank You for Your mercy and Your love. I pray that we become more Christ-like in a way that allows us to be more in tune with Your will. Guarding our hearts is important and we know we can’t do it without You. Lord, be with us when we are weak, and show us just how strong we can be when we lean upon Your grace and Your love in our lives. 

HAVE KIDS? 

Use the content below to dive deeper into the Bible Reading Plan with your family. 

Family Application: Guard Your Heart 

Author: Nichole McCardle 

• When you are baking a delicious chocolate cake, what do you need? You need to follow a recipe with the perfect ingredients, right? What would happen if you decided to add ingredients that didn’t belong, like broccoli and spaghetti noodles? That cake would not turn out delicious! What we put into the cake is pretty important, don’t you think? Our hearts are kind of like that cake. What we put into our hearts is very important! Proverbs 4:23 says “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” This means we need to be careful with what we let our eyes see, what we let our ears hear, and what we let our minds think. Instead, we need to seek out what Jesus would want us to do in every situation. That helps keep our hearts guarded against sin.  
• When we guard our hearts against bad things, we have so much room for all the great things God has for us! Read Philippians 4:8-9 and learn about some great things we can fill our hearts with.  
  
• When we fill our hearts with good things, our actions and behaviors help others to see God’s love in our lives. How can you show someone God’s love today? Maybe you can draw a picture for a friend, do something nice for a neighbor, or share your toys with a sibling. 
  
• Prayer: God, You are amazing! Thank You for who You are and what You do in my heart and my life! God, help me to guard my heart and to look to You. Amen.