Keeping the Heart
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The heart of man is his worst part before it is regenerated, and the best part afterward. It is the seat of principles, and the fountain of actions.
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Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life. (Proverbs 4:23)
The heart of man is his worst part before it is regenerated, and the best part afterward. It is the seat of principles, and the fountain of actions.
The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God. The greatest difficulty after conversion is to keep the heart with God. Direction and help in this great work are the scope of the text wherein we have:
- An exhortation: Keep thy heart with all diligence.
- The reason or motive enforcing it: For out of it are the issues of life.
In the exhortation we’ll consider:
- The matter of the duty.
- The manner of performing it.
For out of it [the heart] are the issues of life. In other words, the heart is the source of all vital operations; it is the origin of both good and evil, just as the spring in a watch that sets all the wheels in motion. The heart is the treasury, the hand and tongue are but the shops. The heart contrives, and the members execute: for of the abundance of the heart his mouth speaketh (Luke 6:45).
About the Author
John Flavel (c.1628-1691) was born into an England wracked by political, social, and religious upheaval. Two civil wars and unstable leadership framed the political landscape. Economic hardships and a resurgence of plague further distressed the nation. The church, too, was in turmoil. Flavel, a pastor of one of the many independent churches persecuted by the government, was forced from his church in Dartmouth. In secret and under stress, he continued preaching, writing, and shepherding his flock. He suffered the death of three of his four wives and at least one child. He continued preaching until his sudden death in 1691.
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1 review for Keeping the Heart
“Keeping the Heart” is by John Flavel, a British pastor in the 1600s. It’s all about how to keep your heart focused on Christ as much as possible. “The greatest difficulty in conversion is to win the heart to God. The greatest difficulty after conversion is to keep the heart with God.” Flavel divides the book into specific times when it’s especially important to keep focused on Christ: during hard times, during good times, when near death–honestly, pretty much all the time.
Flavel calls the keeping and managing of the heart “the great task of a Christian life.” Yet how to do that? “We may as well be our own saviors as our own keepers; and yet Solomon speaks properly enough when he says, Keep they heart, because the duty is ours, though the power is of God. What power we have depends upon the exciting and assisting strength of Christ.”
One thing Flavel emphasizes is our thoughts–we need to zealously guard what we think about. A thought may come unbidden into our mind, but that doesn’t mean we have to let it stay or focus on it. “Of the wickedness and vanity of their thoughts, God took particular notice. Because of this the Chaldeans had to come upon them as a lion among the beasts of the forest … and teareth them in pieces (Micah 5:8). For the sin of thoughts God threw down the fallen angels from heaven and still keeps them in everlasting chains to the great judgment day.”
Since this book was 400 years old, I feared it might be a bit inaccessible. But it wasn’t; I was pleasantly surprised by how practical Flavel’s advice was. Some things I liked:
* “It may encourage your heart to consider that in these troubles God is performing that work in which your soul would rejoice if you saw the plan. We are clouded with a lot of ignorance and are not able to discern how particular providences tend to the fulfillment of God’s plan.”
* “If you could only see how God in his secret counsel has exactly laid the whole plan of your salvation, even to the smallest means and circumstances … if you had the freedom to make your own choice, you would, of all conditions in the world, choose that which you are in now?”
* “Fretting and discontent brings more injury to yourself than all of your afflictions could. Your own discontent arms your troubles with a sting. You make your burden heavy by struggling under it. If you would lie quietly under the hand of God, your condition would be much easier than it is. ‘Impatience in the sick brings severity in the physician.’ This makes God afflict even more, as a father does to a stubborn child who does not receive correction. Besides, it disqualifies the soul to pray over its troubles or receive the sense of the good which God intends by the afflictions … God may throw away some comfort which he knows would hurt you. Will you throw away your peace after it?”
“O my soul, is this hell? Is my condition as bad as that of the damned? What would thousands now in hell give to exchange conditions with me!”
* “Consider Christ first as the King and supreme Lord over the providential kingdom, and then as your head, husband, and friend, and you will quickly say, Return unto they rest, O my soul. This truth will make you stop trembling, and cause you to sing in the midst of danger, For God is the King of all the earth: sing ye praises with understanding.”
* “Remember all the needless trouble your vain fears have brought upon you in the past. ‘And hast feared continually every day because of the fury of the oppressor, as if he were ready to destroy? and where is the fury of the oppressor?’ He seemed ready to destroy, yet you are not destroyed. I have not brought upon you the thing that you feared; you have wasted your spirit, disordered your soul, and weakened your hands to no purpose.”
* “In new difficulties let the saint say, ‘Lord, you have often heard, helped, and saved in former years; therefore, now help again, for with you there is plentiful redemption, and your arm is not shortened.”
* “Habitual communion with God will give you enjoyment which you will never want to interrupt by sinful feelings.”
I found “Keeping the Heart” to be a goldmine of helpful thoughts in keeping our hearts and minds focused on the Lord. It’s only around 150 pages, and I think is best read in short segments so you can think about it. I read it during a particularly stressful time in my life and highly recommend.