“Guard your heart with all diligence, for out of it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)
Your mind is the most powerful tool you have for the creation of good in your life, but if not used correctly, can also be the most destructive force in your life. Your mind, more specifically, your thoughts, affect your perception and, therefore, your interpretation of reality. I have heard that the average person thinks around 70,000 thoughts a day. That’s a lot, especially if they are negative, corrupt, immoral, and just a waste of energy. When Solomon says to guard your heart, he implies that we are living in a combat zone—one in which there are casualties. When God gets ready to change someone, how does He do it? By changing how they think. God changes the thought process. We are the sum total of the thoughts that come in and go out of us.
Proverbs 3:7 says “As a man think in his heart, so is he” What you think is what you are. The thought life controls you.
Jesus said, “A good person produces good things from the treasury of a good heart, and an evil person produces evil things from the treasury of an evil heart. What you say flows from what is in your heart.” (Luke 6:45)
In the Old Testament the word “heart” is used more than 800 times, but more than 200 times it deals with the thought life, the emotions, the wellsprings of life, and those things that motivate and mould us. The Bible calls that the heart. Your thoughts lead to attitudes; attitudes lead to actions; actions lead to achievements. It all begins with the thought life. Your achievements will be the sum total of your thoughts. All negative, insensitive, uncaring, jealous, angry and wicked thoughts and feelings are from the evil heart. This is so fundamental that God destroyed an entire civilization because they had “heart problem.”
Bible says “And God saw that the wickedness of man was great on the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was evil continually before God.” (Genesis 6:5)God said, “The thoughts of their heart are so evil, I’m going to have to destroy them,” and He sent the flood because of the thoughts of men’s hearts.
The heart of the human problem is the problem of the human heart. We’re still having the same problem they had. Solomon said, “Guard, protect, and be careful of your thought life or Keep your heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
God's thoughts are always good, positive, caring, considerate, loving, kind, generous, and merciful and He wants to bring us to an expected good end. Bible says “How can a young person stay on the path of purity? By living according to your word” (Psalm 119:9): Get God’s Word into your heart. “For the word of God is alive and powerful. It is sharper than the sharpest two-edged sword, cutting between soul and spirit, between joint and marrow. It exposes our innermost thoughts and desires.” (Hebrews 4:12). God’s Word has power to cleanse and keep you. Psalm 119:11 says” Your word I have treasured in my heart, that I may not sin against You.”
When a person knows God and is right with God, they will diligently seek Him to live a perfectly natural, intensely practical, and deeply spiritual life all at the same time. A God-controlled thought life will— Govern your speech (Proverbs 4: 24) Guard your sight (Proverbs 4: 25) Guide your steps (Proverbs 4:27) When your mind is clear and right with God, when you think the thoughts of Christ after Him, when you have the mind of Christ, when you’re being transformed by the word of God and the power of God and the Spirit of God in your thought life, then you’re going to be doing the will of God. To be continued…………
