To Follow or To Guide?
“Why doth thine heart carry thee away?”
We’ve all heard the popular phrase “follow your heart.” As Christians, when we give a little thought to this statement, we quickly realize the fallacy of trying to apply that philosophy. The larger struggle arises when we decide not to follow our own heart (because of the dangers it presents) but do not have a plan for what to do as we move through life. The Bible says in Jeremiah 17:9 that “the heart is deceitful above all things and desperately wicked: who can know it?” So we know not to follow our heart but the question arises “What should we do?”
As we study the book of Proverbs, I believe we will find an answer in Proverbs 23 that we can seek to apply in our spiritual lives. Proverbs has a number of verses about our heart — both about its wickedness and what Christ can do in a heart that is yielded to Him. At the end of this devotional, I will give a link that you can follow and quickly see all the references to the heart in the book of Proverbs. I encourage you to take some time this week and study these out.
Proverbs 23:19 says “Hear thou, my son, and be wise, and guide thine heart in the way.” The first thing I would like to encourage you to do is to guide your heart. The question is not where will my heart lead me, but rather, where will I guide my heart? We often find in scripture that the men and women of God would set their hearts toward the Word of God. In life, a guide is there to take someone from a place that they are familiar with toward a destination they are not familiar with. The Word of God is the best guide to lead us to a life of spiritual productivity in an unknown future. If I guide my heart to be immersed in God’s Word, then I am ultimately arriving at the destination that He has planned for me. My heart will not naturally run to the Word of God so I must guide it there each and every day. Do you make time in your day to guide your heart to the Word of God? If not, start today getting in the Word of God every day.
Proverbs 23:26 states “My son, give me thine heart, and let thine eyes observe my ways.” We might make the mistake as we guide our heart to God‘s Word that the success of our effort is all about us. God challenges us to give our hearts to Him, and by doing that, He begins to work a marvelous work in our hearts. Many of us struggle in the hard work of guiding our hearts because we’ve never given our heart over to the Lord. If your heart is not surrendered to what God has for it, you will constantly struggle with what God asks of you on a daily basis. Faithfulness will be a struggle. Kindness will be a struggle. Obedience will be a struggle. Attitude will be a struggle. Enjoying the Word will be a struggle. Are you catching the point? If your life is characterized primarily by a lot of struggle, perhaps your heart has not been given to the Lord. Proverbs 28:26 states “He that trusteth in his own heart is a fool: but whoso walketh wisely, he shall be delivered.” When you’re trusting your own heart, the struggle is real. However, if you walk with wisdom and give your heart to the Lord and then guide your heart to the Word; God will do amazing things in you and for you on the path of life.
More verses on the Heart to study this week.