Our family doctor emigrated a few years ago, and we had to find a new GP. The first thing both kids mentioned after their visit was that they had never had such a thorough check-up by a medical practitioner in all their lives. He missed nothing and had several blood tests done after he listened to their challenges. These revealed severe deficiencies that had to be aggressively treated in both girls, although they differed for each. We soon discovered that he does a thorough physical examination every time you go for a consultation, checking blood pressure, heart, lungs, and I know not what before he gets to the reason for your visit. Naturally, we have tremendous confidence in our doctor and now do annual check-ups.
Today, we are going for a spiritual check-up, using Proverbs 4: 20 – 27 as a guideline:
Verses 20 and 24 talks about our Ears: My child, pay attention to what I say. Listen carefully to my words. Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.
Verses 21 and 25 talks about the Eyes: Don’t lose sight of my words. Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.
Verse 23 talks about the Heart: Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.
Verses 26 and 27 talks about our Feet: Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get side-tracked; keep your feet from following evil.
I don’t know how your check-up went, but I felt to go back to the heart — not because I am not satisfied with the condition of your heart, but because I am seldom happy with the state of my own heart. Called by the prophet Jeremiah[1] deceitful above all else and desperately wicked, I do not want to brush over it but allow God to comb my heart entirely and regularly. The phrase ABOVE ALL ELSE is already an indication that God wants us to probe and painstakingly examine the heart more than our other organs.
Just as the human heart is essential for a healthy physical life, so is a spiritual heart at the center of our vital union with God. And just as the physical heart controls the body, thus our spiritual heart controls what we say, think, and do! When sin is allowed, we pollute our entire life. Therefore, guarding our hearts is of the utmost importance. It implies that we tend to it the way we tend to our gardens, uprooting bitterness, weeds of covetousness, and thorns of unforgiveness. These need to be replaced with the fruit of the Spirit: “love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control.
OUR GRACE CHALLENGE FOR THE WEEK: Socrates said, “The unexamined life is not worth living.” Therefore, shall we take time this week to examine our lives, allowing the Holy Spirit to spotlight its every nook and cranny? ABOVE ALL ELSE, shall we trust Him to search our hearts and minds and help us to get to the root of our actions, for our actions determine our habits, and our habits determine our character?
