THE NORTHERN KENTUCKY SEARCHER
"Search the scriptures: for in them ye think ye have eternal life: and they are they which testify of me. " (John 5:39)

VOLUME 3, NUMBER 37, OCT. 12, 2003

KEEP THE HEART

            In Matthew 12, the charge had been made against the Lord that He was casting out demons by the power of Beelzebub, the prince of the devils.  It was obviously a pitiful attempt by certain of the Pharisees to deny the significance of the miracles Jesus was performing.  The Lord quickly exposed their charge as utterly foolish.  His comments included the statements found in verses 34 & 35, “O generation of vipers, how can ye, being evil, speak good things?  For out of the abundance of the heart the mouth speaketh.  A good man out of the good treasure of the heart bringeth forth good things: and an evil man out of the evil treasure bringeth forth evil things.”

            I am writing this article on a computer.  It is a marvelous machine, capable of doing a thousand times more than I know how to do.  The computer does, however, have its limitations.  It can only put out what is put into it.  It needs the necessary software to be able to produce anything.  For instance, I would like to be able to produce and edit digital video programs using my computer.  I can do that, but not without the necessary software installed on my trusty Compac.  Yet, even with the software, what I can produce will be limited to what I put in.  It reminds me of the bible heart.

            In Proverbs 4:23, Solomon wrote, “Watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of life”, or as the King James renders it, “the issues of life”.  What flows from it can only be that which has been put into it.  The computer that does not have the video producing software installed cannot produce videos.  The heart that has been filled with only good treasure will not bring forth evil.  The heart that has been filled with what is wicked, will not bring forth that which is good.

            So, how do we “watch over the heart with all diligence?”  Paul supplies us with the answer in Philippians 4:8-9.  He wrote, “Finally, brethren, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is of good repute, if there is any excellence and if anything worthy of praise, let your mind dwell on these things.  The things you have learned and received and heard and seen in me, practice these things; and the God of peace shall be with you.”

            There is the answer.  Put in what is good and that is what will come out.  This is not always an easy thing to do, but with care it can be accomplished.  The Lord does not demand that we become hermits.  He does not demand that we isolate ourselves, build walls around us and allow nothing in but the bible.  As a matter of fact, in 1 Corinthians 5:9-10, Paul wrote, “I wrote unto you in an epistle not to company with fornicators: yet not altogether with the fornicators of this world, or with the covetous, or extortioners, or with idolaters; for then must ye needs go out of the world.”  There are good and wholesome things that this world has to offer.  There is good music, good literature, good television, good movies, and other upright things that we can freely engage in.  On the other hand, there is wicked music, wicked literature, wicked television, wicked movies, and a whole host of other wicked things we can engage in if we choose. 

            Our Lord made a profound statement in another discussion with certain Pharisees in Matthew 15.  The Pharisees were concerned that on a particular occasion the Lord’s disciples did not engage in the traditional ceremonial cleansing before eating.  It was a man-made tradition, not a commandment of God.  After dealing with the Pharisees, the Jesus explained to His apostles what He meant in His reply.  Verses 17-20 state, “Do not ye yet understand, that whatsoever entereth in at the mouth goeth into the belly, and is cast out into the draught? But those things which proceed out of the mouth come forth from the heart; and they defile the man.  For out of the heart proceed evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false witness, blasphemies: these are the things which defile a man: but to eat with unwashen hands defileth not a man.”

            What comes out from the heart is only that which has been put in. 

            Generally we think of this in terms of the “big” stuff (I am using that only for emphasis): fornication, adultery, murder, lies, and so forth.  But what about thinking the worse of a brother or sister in Christ, failing to give them the benefit of the doubt.?  Or how about gossiping or talking behind the back of a brother or sister?  Or how about harboring a grudge or refusing to talk to a fellow Christian?  Where does that sort of ungodliness come from?  It comes from the heart, and the only thing that comes out of the heart is what has been put in it. 

            There is just no way around it.  Sooner or later what we think about, what we dwell upon, what we put into our hearts, is going to express itself.   Solomon wrote in Proverbs 23:7, “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he”.    Is there any real difference, ultimately, between murder and killing the reputation of a brother or sister through gossip?  Not if I understand God’s Word there isn’t.  Both will condemn the doer to hell and both evidence that the heart is not right in the sight of God.

            There are some things we can hide in this life from each other and some things that we can’t.  It just seems that sooner or later an ungodly heart, made that way through what has been put into it, is going to express itself.  We close with Solomon’s words from Proverbs 27:19, “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects man.”

                                                Greg Litmer