All rivers have a starting point where the water begins its flow. This source is called a headwater. The headwater can come from rainfall or snowmelt in the mountains, but it can also bubble up from groundwater or form at the edge of a lake or large pond.
Proverbs 4 tells us that our heart is the headwater of our life. This is where life starts. Our heart determines the course of our life. This is why we are instructed to guard our hearts.
This isn’t a passive activity. This isn’t something we get to when we have the chance. There is purpose; there is intentionality and attention to detail expressed in this verse. “Keep vigilant watch over your heart.” If you are being vigilant, you are keenly watchful to detect danger. You stay awake. You stay alert (see 1 Peter 5:8).
Do you sense the seriousness of this verse? Above all else, we need to guard our heart, and it begins by putting God’s word first place in our lives.
“My son, be attentive to my words; incline your ear to my sayings. Let them not escape from your sight; keep them within your heart. For they are life to those who find them, and healing to all their flesh” Proverbs 4:20-22.
Our eyes and ears are the gateways to our heart. When we flood these gateways with God’s word, we have life and healing. “Man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord” (Deuteronomy 8:3). “So, faith comes from hearing, and hearing through the word of Christ” (Romans 10:17).
So, listen to God’s word. Read God’s word, memorize God’s word and be doers of God’s word. Once a week on Sundays isn’t enough. Make this a regular routine of your daily life!
Guard your hearty by watching your language! “Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you” (Proverbs 4:24).
“Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Ephesians 4:29).
Guard your heart by staying the course! “Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or left; turn your foot away from evil” (Proverbs 4:25-27).