How can men and women be dedicated to a holy calling?

8/22/2012 – PCA Annual Dedication Service – 6:30pm

“Above All Else”

(Proverbs 4:23)

NIV

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

ESV

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life.

Literally,

With all custody (jail) guard your heart, for from out of it the escaping things of lives.

Above all else,

Some things are of first importance. Some activities should be attended to “above all else.” That is because there is Someone who is above all else.

The Lord God is above all else. Jesus Christ, the eternal Son of God, has been given all power and authority. We are to think of Him as the One who is above all else together with the Father and the Holy Spirit.

Worship is therefore an activity that is above all else. But it must be genuine. This has nothing to do with style, but everything to do with the hearts of those who worship. \

guard your heart,

Therefore, those who love God in the midst of a fallen world need to guard their hearts. The image used here is of a jail. You want to keep the right things firmly in custody in your heart.

Your understanding of who God is, your trust in Jesus Christ for life and death, your genuine boasting in the cross of Christ rather than yourself, your belief in the resurrection of Christ from the grave, your anticipation of the glories of the life to come... get these in your heart by the grace of God. Lock the door and throw away the key.

There is an inner cell in your heart like the Holy of Holies in the Old Testament tabernacle. God is with us in that inner Ark of the Covenant which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. Don't let Him out. And don't let anything else into that sacred space where only the Lord should reign.

for it is the wellspring of life.

There are many reasons to guard your heart, but only one is given in this verse. Your life escapes from that inner cell. This is not a bad escape, but a good one, like a river flowing from the temple of the Lord in heaven and bringing the freshness of life upon the earth.

Out of your heart will flow streams of living water. This is the way that your calling in life will be best expressed. This is a beautiful verse to contemplate. Here are two others worthy of your meditation: Psalm 119:9 and 2 Timothy 1:7. Think of these as the Lord's practical direction for you; the only way to fulfill Proverbs 4:23 – by the Word of God and by His Holy Spirit. Then receive the promises of God. He is faithful. He will do it.