“Keep Thy Heart With All Diligence”

by Micky Galloway

David wrote, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23). When we consider a study of the heart, we need to be concerned about the “Bible heart.” What the Bible describes as the heart is not the blood pump in the human chest. It is that part of man that has the capacity to reason and think. Jesus rebuked the Jews after forgiving the palsied man. Mark 2:6-8 says, “But there were certain of the scribes sitting there, and reasoning in their hearts, Why doth this man thus speak? he blasphemeth: who can forgive sins but one, even God? And straightway Jesus, perceiving in his spirit that they so reasoned within themselves, saith unto them, Why reason ye these things in your hearts?” It is that part of man that loves (Matthew 22:37) and believes (Romans 10:9-10).

The Scriptures teach that the heart is the source of all thoughts, purposes, and intents “For the word of God is living, and active, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the dividing of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow, and quick to discern the thoughts and intents of the heart” (Hebrews 4:12; cf. II Corinthians 9:7). It is “from the heart” that all acceptable obedience comes (cf. Romans 6:16-18). Jeremiah said, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and it is exceedingly corrupt: who can know it?” (Jeremiah 17:9). The devil tempts us with evil thoughts and purposes in our hearts that result in sinful conduct. Concerning Ananias in Acts 5:3, Peter asked, “Why hath Satan filled thy heart to lie to the Holy Spirit, and to keep back part of the price of the land?” Jesus said, “For out of the heart come forth evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, railings: these are the things that defile the man …” (Matthew 15:19-20). When we allow our hearts free course the result is evident and demonstrated in Genesis 6:5, “And Jehovah saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually.”

To “keep thy heart with all diligence,” the heart must first be purified. But how is that accomplished? Peter, speaking of the conversion of the Gentile household of Cornelius, said, “and he made no distinction between us and them, cleansing their hearts by faith” (Acts 15:9). The heart of man, the inward man (cf. II Corinthians 4:16), is purified by obedience to the truth. Peter wrote, “Seeing ye have purified your souls in your obedience to the truth unto unfeigned love of the brethren, love one another from the heart fervently: having been begotten again, not of corruptible seed, but of incorruptible, through the word of God, which liveth and abideth” (I Peter 1:22-23). Note the relationship between the heart being purified and one’s choice to obey the truth. Peter continued to expound on this purification, “Putting away therefore all wickedness, and all guile, and hypocrisies, and envies, and all evil speakings, as newborn babes, long for the spiritual milk which is without guile, that ye may grow thereby unto salvation” (I Peter 2:1-2). One cannot “put away,” “put off,” and “put on” (READ Ephesians 4:17-5:11; Colossians 3:5-17), without deliberate determination to know what God’s word says! In the text of Ephesians 4, Paul wrote, “that ye put away, as concerning your former manner of life, the old man, that waxeth corrupt after the lusts of deceit; and that ye be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, that after God hath been created in righteousness and holiness of truth” (verses 22-24). In the Colossian letter he wrote, “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly; in all wisdom teaching and admonishing one another …” (Colossians 3:16). The Psalmist wrote, “Thy word have I laid up in my heart, That I might not sin against thee” (Psalms 119:11). If you want to “Keep thy heart with all diligence” you must study!

To “keep thy heart with all diligence,” one must serve God “with the whole heart.” “Blessed are they that keep his testimonies, that seek him with the whole heart … With my whole heart have I sought thee: Oh let me not wander from thy commandments … Give me understanding, and I shall keep thy law; yea, I shall observe it with my whole heart … The proud have forged a lie against me: with my whole heart will I keep thy precepts” (Psalms 119:2, 10, 34, 69). Once again, note the relationship between whole hearted service and one’s commitment to God’s word. Whole hearted service is not a divided allegiance.

To “keep thy heart with all diligence,” the heart must be prepared. “For Ezra had prepared his heart to seek the law of the Lord, and to do it, and to teach in Israel statutes and judgments” (Ezra 7:10 KJV). The Hebrew word kûn means, “established, prepared, made ready, fixed, certain, right” (Theological Wordbook of the Old Testament). Ezra had fixed his mind to know and teach the law of the Lord. Many have not so prepared themselves. Rehoboam is an example. “And it came to pass, when the kingdom of Rehoboam was established, and he was strong, that he forsook the law of Jehovah, and all Israel with him … And he did that which was evil, because he set not his heart to seek Jehovah” (II Chronicles 12:1, 14). The heart must also be willing and submissive. The people of God were destroyed because they would not listen. “They have made it a desolation; it mourneth unto me, being desolate; the whole land is made desolate, because no man layeth it to heart” (Jeremiah 12:11). The heart must also discern what is most important. Jesus said, “Lay not up for yourselves treasures upon the earth, where moth and rust consume, and where thieves break through and steal: but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust doth consume, and where thieves do not break through nor steal: for where thy treasure is, there will thy heart be also” (Matthew 6:19-21).

“Keep thy heart with all diligence; For out of it are the issues of life.” What is the condition of your heart? The Lord is coming and then all secrets shall be revealed. “Wherefore judge nothing before the time, until the Lord come, who will both bring to light the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest the counsels of the hearts; and then shall each man have his praise from God” (I Corinthians 4:5).