Hidden Messes
Proverbs 4:23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
When our hearts are free from sin and fixated on the Lord they still need guarded. This involves guarding our mind. We guard our minds by guarding what our eyes see and our ears hear. Our minds absorbs whatever we expose them to. The only question is: what are we exposing our minds to?
All the fruits of the Spirit were manifested in Solomon when he took over the throne. Galatians 5:22-23 But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. Against such things there is no law. But he didn’t guard it. He allowed worldly wealth to reign which led him into ungodly relationships and the division of the kingdom.
The proverb he wrote for us is to “guard it above all else.” Another translation says to “Keep it will all vigilance.” We are to guard it diligently. Solomon’s heart wasn’t changed overnight. It was a gradual erosion of his beliefs and his faith. His priorities changed. One compromise will always lead to another. It wasn’t just one foreign wife that corrupted Solomon – it led to 700 wives and 300 concubines. Instead of being faithful to God, he became faithful to his lusts. This lust comes in many forms – material possessions, ungodly relationships are just a couple. Our lust can lead to an ungrateful heart when we become jealous of our neighbor’s new car or the eye candy that serenades us through advertising campaigns that promise happiness. Jesus tells us in Matthew 6:22 “The eye is the lamp of the body. So, if your eye is healthy, your whole body will be full of light.” Material possessions and relationships aren’t sinful unless we put them in front of God.
God wants us to “walk by faith, not by sight” (2 Cor 5:7). Walking by faith requires us to have a strong foundation in His word. “Faith comes from hearing, and hearing by the word of God” (Romans 10:17). Idols come into our hearts when our fleshly desires fill voids that only God can satisfy. Sometimes it’s best to turn off the TV and stop scrolling and turn to God in prayer. We can’t see what’s under our refrigerators, rugs, or couch cushions unless we deliberately move them to clean. The same happens to our hearts when we aren’t in the word. We can become blind to our sin and excuse it. Prideful motives, grudges, and a little bitterness will begin to show when we keep sweeping it under the rug. We can end up with the same kind of idol build-up that completely transformed Solomon and in turn, the Israelite nation.
Our God is a God of cleanliness. Starting our days on our knees and with His perfect and holy word is how we cleanse our hearts. Jesus spoke in John 17:17 in His prayer to the Father, “Sanctify them in your truth, your word is truth.” This can take a lot of time depending on how long we have stored sin in our hearts. The Holy Spirit is gentle when removing it. Sweeping dirt under our rugs doesn’t remove the filth. It just hides it. We need to move the rug, to expose it. Then sweep it up, mop the floor, shake the rug, and shampoo the rug. Depending on how long we’ve been sweeping sin under the rug, the mop water could leave a film that requires a change in water. There may be stains imbedded in the rug that need more attention. It isn’t a fun process, but the freedom of a clean heart is well worth all the work.
When we start in prayer and scripture, we give the Spirit permission to guide us through the day. It keeps our hearts in gratitude instead of jealousy, in love instead of bitterness, and in focus instead of chaos. All of the dust, pet hair, and crumbs that corrode the floor under rugs needs cleaned just as regularly as our hearts. We need to give our homes the same cleansing we give our hearts. When our hearts are diligently cared for, the fruits of the spirit are abundantly evident. Those same fruits flow unhindered in our homes when we are giving our homes the proper care as well, regardless of the condition of your carpet or how dated your kitchen appears. Brand new perfectly designed and decorated homes that are void of God’s presence feel less homey than a 1900’s home with wavy floors and cracked plaster when God’s Spirit is filling it.
When we guard our hearts diligently against the enemy’s schemes, we have a much clearer vision of God’s will for our lives and in turn, our homes. It’s only when our desires align with His desires that we are able to make true progress.
Memory Verse: Psalm 37:4 Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart.