In the last three devotionals, we looked at six reasons why we should make keeping the heart the great business of our lives. When we keep our hearts, we (1) bring God glory in our lives, (2) avoid hypocrisy and much wickedness, (3) have beautiful witness of Christ to the world, (4) can have true assurance and comfort in life, (5) bear more fruit, and (6) have stability in times of temptation. Notice what all of that describes. Those six points describe the Christian life! Everything that a Christian is to be and everything that a Christian is to do is encapsulated in keeping our hearts fixed on God. Keeping the heart is the distilled essence of what it is to be and live as a Christian, and it is the key to spiritual growth and maturity.
Up to this point, we have been looking at the heart from a bird’s eye view. We have seen how the Bible describes the heart (decision-making and will) and why we should orientate our lives around keeping it. Now, we will be looking at specific life situations where we can apply this biblical teaching. The Puritans are well known for making the Bible very practical, and we have this opportunity to plumb the depths of keeping the heart with John Flavel. Flavel, speaking of the first season of keeping the heart, said,
The first season is the time of prosperity, when Providence smiles upon us. Now, Christian, keep thy heart with all diligence; for it will be very apt to grow secure, proud and earthly. “To see a man humble in prosperity,” says Bernard, “is one of the greatest rarities in the world.” Even a good Hezekiah could not hide a vain-glorious temper in his temptation; hence that caution to Israel: “And it shall be, when the Lord thy God shall have brought thee into the land which he swore to thy fathers, to Abraham, to Isaac, and to Jacob, to give thee great and goodly cities which thou buildest not, and houses full of all good things which thou filledst not,” &c. “then beware lest thou forget the Lord.” So indeed it happened: for “Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked.” How then may a Christian keep his heart from pride and carnal security under the smiles of Providence and the confluence of creature-comforts?
The season of prosperity is especially relevant to Western believers, as we easily make up some of the richest Christians in the world. We can so easily get lost in our entertainments, fancy and plenteous foods, and in having nearly every service at our disposal. Many of us have come to view entertainment as a necessary (and needed) part of our daily schedules. Whether these entertainments include sports, movies, soaps, video games, TV shows, social media, surfing the web, and a whole host of others, such things can very easily come to dominate our thinking and pull us away from keeping our hearts firmly fixed on God. In fact, entertainment is designed to distract people from regular life. The ancient Caesars, for instance, were very aware of this. In times of civil unrest, they built the colosseums to keep the masses happy. And they did! People are apt to forget and to leave behind the important and regular matters of life the more they get caught in the web of entertainment. And what culture has ever been so enraptured by entertainments more than our own! Yes, such entertainments have captured the hearts of the West, so we must be sober-minded and diligent in what we allow to touch our hearts. Our hearts must belong to God, not our entertainments. The same can be said of the food we eat and the services at our disposal. Comparatively, the average westerner lives a higher lifestyle than ancient kings. Think about it. Food is basically prepared for us and is often all available in one place. Whatever entertainment we desire is available at the push of a button. And medical advancements are such that we can live long and relatively painless lives. I can tell you now that, of all the seasons, this one is the most dangerous to the Christian. Many false professions of faith have been made by Westerners who refuse to subject their entertainments to God, instead keeping their hearts fixed on worldly wants and desires. Keep the heart Christian! Don’t fall for worldly lusts or be captivated by worldly entertainment. Subject them to Christ! Or you will be consumed by them.
There are several helps to secure the heart from the dangerous snares of prosperity:
1.) Consider the dangerous ensnaring temptations attending a pleasant and prosperous condition. Few, very few of those that live in the pleasures of this world, escape everlasting perdition. “It is easier” (says Christ) “for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of heaven.” “Not many mighty, not many noble are called.”
We have great reason to tremble, when the Scripture tells us in general that few shall be saved; much more when it tells us, that of that rank of which we are, but few shall be saved. When Joshua called all the tribes of Israel to cast lots for the discovery of Achan, doubtless Achan feared; when the tribe of Judah was taken, his fear increased; but when the family of the Zarhites was taken, it was time to tremble. So when the Scriptures come so near as to tell us that of such a class of men very few shall escape, it is time to be alarmed. “I should wonder,” says Chrysostom, “if any of the rulers be saved.” O how many have been wheeled to hell in the chariots of earthly pleasures, while others have been whipped to heaven by the rod of affliction! How few, like the daughter of Tyre, come to Christ with a gift! How few among the rich entreat his favor!
Many shall say, “Lord, Lord,” and Christ will say, “away with you, for I never knew you!” For such false professors of faith were more captivated by worldly things than keeping their hearts on God. They did not heed the things of God and preferred following the desires of their hearts, which ultimately led to their own destruction. Imagine the regret, having lived a life supposing that they are a good Christian, only to be told by the Lord, “I never knew you!” This is the power of those things that captivate our hearts away from God. How can we be known by God? Paul said that “if anyone loves God, he is known by Him” (1 Cor. 8:3 HCSB). What does it mean to love God? To love Him “with all your heart, with all your soul, and with all your strength” (Deut. 6:5)? Jesus said, “The one who has My commands and keeps them is the one who loves Me. And the one who loves Me will be loved by My Father. I also will love him and will reveal Myself to him” (John 14:21). So it is that the one who loves God is one who strives to obey God’s commands with the whole heart; not as one who looks clean on the outside but is as whitewashed tombs (Matt. 23:27), but one who keeps their heart on God. So, remember always how easy it is to have your hearts captivated by worldly things, and subject them to a heart after God.
2.) It may keep one more humble and watchful in prosperity, to consider that among Christians many have been much the worse for it. How good had it been for some of them, if they had never known prosperity! When they were in a low condition, how humble, spiritual and heavenly they were! but when advanced, what an apparent alteration has been upon their spirits! It was so with Israel; when they were in a low condition in the wilderness, then Israel was “holiness to the Lord;” but when they came into Canaan and were richly fed, their language was, “We are lords, we will come no more unto thee.” Outward gains are ordinarily attended with inward losses; as in a low condition their civil employments were wont to have a savor of their religious duties, so in an exalted condition their duties commonly have a savor of the world. He, indeed, is rich in grace whose graces are not hindered by his riches. There are but few Jehosaphats in the world, of whom it is said, “He had silver and gold in abundance, and his heart was lifted up in the way of God's commands.” Will not this keep thy heart humble in prosperity, to think how dearly many godly men have paid for their riches; that through them they have lost that which all the world cannot purchase?
Prosperity is perhaps one of the greatest tests of a Christian’s faith. Surely, when we pray for God to keep us from temptation, this often means keeping us from prosperity! See the words of King Agur: “Two things I ask of You; don’t deny them to me before I die: Keep falsehood and deceitful words far from me. Give me neither poverty nor wealth; feed me with the food I need. Otherwise, I might have too much and deny You, saying, ‘Who is the Lord?’ or I might have nothing and steal, profaning the name of my God” (Prov. 30:7-9 HCSB). Agur knew the danger of prosperity. When we cease to acknowledge our utter need for God, our hearts slip after other things. Thus, “Outward gains are ordinarily attended with inward losses.” We can lose our fervor and zeal for God, and come to neglect not only our hearts, which go after other things, but also the Christian’s spiritual disciplines. Bible reading slides. Prayers become shortened and infrequent. Sins once thought conquered come creeping back into our lives. And we come to find our lives becoming more and more indistinguishable from pagans, atheists, and the rest of the world. Thus, knowing that this is the fruit of a life given to prosperity, humble yourselves before God, subjecting all of your wealth, possessions, and person to God. We came with nothing into this world, and we will take nothing of this world with us when we leave. These things are passing away. Be sober-minded, or you too may pass away with those things, showing yourself not to be among the elect. But for the saved, we will be kept from that destruction.
3.) Keep down thy vain heart by this consideration; God values no man the more for these things. God values no man by outward excellencies, but by inward graces; they are the internal ornaments of the Spirit, which are of great price in God’s sight. God despises all worldly glory, and accepts no man’s person; “but in every nation, he that feareth God and worketh righteousness is accepted of him.” Indeed, if the judgment of God went by the same rule that man’s does, we might value ourselves by these things, and stand upon them: but so much every man is, as he is in the judgment of God. Does thy heart yet swell [become prideful], and will neither of the former considerations keep it humble?
The glories of prosperity and all that prosperity can bring are as nothing to God when compared with the state of your heart. It does not matter how much you give to this or that cause, or what seemingly good thing you do with your wealth, if your heart is not after God. Even your gifts in that case become abominable to Him (Prov. 21:27). So, remember what is valuable in this life (it certainly is not our wealth!). Yes, the wealthy who neglect the heart are but poor, naked, and blind. They do not know what they are or where they are going, being lured by the world as one in shackles, with gouged eyes and a hook in their nose, to their own destruction. Know your state! Hate the love of things or you will show yourself consumed! Only God can open your eyes if you are fixed on such things. Fix your heart on God, for the state of your heart is what shows you to be either His own or one of the many false professors. As believers, we all sin and have to continually fix our heart upon God, but woe to the one who makes worldly things his heart’s desire! Look to the light and grow in inward grace, for this is what God desires. And He alone is our Saviour.
Next time we will be looking at three more helps for the season of prosperity.