The Heart of the Issue

“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”-Proverbs 4:23-

What is your “heart”? In science, we know that it’s the blood-pumping organ that makes the rest of the body run. It doesn’t think; it doesn’t feel. But in Hebrew culture, the heart was seen differently. It was a metaphor for the center or the core of a person’s personality. It was the spiritual hub, and one’s life flowed from its orientation. Everything flowed from the heart — not only blood, but personality, motives, emotions, and will.
In Hebrew, the word for “heart” means “the kernel of the nut.” Your heart reflects your true identity. Understanding this concept helps us realize why “guarding the heart” is so important. We recognize it as the source from which our thoughts, feelings, and actions flow.
Imagine the futility and frustration of trying to clean a downstream section of a creek, when all the while a garbage dump up at the creek’s source is continually polluting it with load after load of filth. Sure, you could go and clean every day, but it would be like pushing a boulder up a hill only to watch it roll back down again.
How much of your life do you spend dealing with the visible garbage downstream, rather than what produces it? It’s easy to focus on “behavior modification,” just picking up bits of trash here & there as we see them. But that only addresses the symptoms. It’s a quick-fix methodology for a long-term issue. It’s like a bandage for your elbow when the issue is your heart. It’s not that addressing behaviors can’t yield positive results; it’s simply that the heart of the issue is an issue of the heart.
We need to learn to hike upstream, with the Holy Spirit as our guide, to remedy the issue at the source. It’s a staggering commitment, but it will be worth the extra effort.

Pursuing Today
Do some serious reflecting on these questions as a kind of “spiritual heart test”: What disappoints you? What do you complain about the most? Where do you make financial sacrifices? What worries you? Where do you go when you’re hurting? What infuriates you? What are your dreams? Memorize God’s promise: “You will seek Me and find Me when you seek Me with all your heart” (Jeremiah 29:13).