Your Heart Is Your Source Code

What is it that makes God always seek to know us through our hearts?

Scripture is littered all over with God highlighting and calling attention to this same heart.

Guard your heart above all else…, … and the peace of God that passeth understanding will garrison your heart, a person may think their own ways are right, but the LORD weighs the heart, … people look at the outward appearance but the Lord looks at the heart, as in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man…

And so on it goes, with God emphasizing again and again the heart.

So, what really is it?

Let’s start with this well-known verse in Proverbs 4:23 that says, “Guard your heart above all else, for out of it flows the issue of life." Some versions hit it smack and say, “…everything you do flows from it," and some are more direct and say, “…for it determines the course of your life...”

I like to joke—and maybe not joke—but say I can try to guess how a person thinks and reasons by just observing their actions and listening to the person speak, and it may or may not come from knowing this verse of scripture. You see, one thing I love about the Bible, especially in situations like this, is that maybe sometimes we need a little bit of transliteration, exegesis, word study, contextual understanding, historical background, and whatnot, but the Bible is pretty direct and ready to go as it is.

Yes, as you grow in your walk with God, you do need to grow an in-depth understanding of the Bible, its context, and all that pertains to it, but just as 1 Peter says, many times the sincere milk of the word is really enough, with no garnishment or extra addition.

Are you worried about something? Flip open your Bible to Paul’s letter in Philippians, telling us not to worry but to lay it all on God in prayer and to round it up with thanksgiving. You feel condemned in your sin? Romans 8 prescribes the ‘Therefore now no condemnation’ dosage for you, and when you wonder how to approach God in prayer, just like the disciples once did, there are words of Jesus with step-by-step instructions on how to go about it. God says He loves you with an everlasting love? Trust me, He means exactly that.

So, you see, the Bible is really complete, whole, and fit for any audience; it has strong bones for the spiritually mature and sincere milk for the newborn babe. Now, I fear that I am veering off track, so back to the heart.

I went through all that, though, to say that when it comes to the heart, the Bible is pretty direct in its approach. Out of it flows the issues of life is not a metaphor or Greek for anything other than the actual issues of life. In his book ‘Waking the Dead,' John Eldredge, talking on the same scripture, says, and I quote, “The heart is ... well, at the heart of it all. Of life. Of each person. Of God. And of Christianity…”

And I want us to have a bit more context on what "guard" means, so let's do a little word study (I know, I know). It’s a straightforward word, clearly, but I think we can all agree that to guard in those days is very much different from what it means now, so over to Strong’s.

The Hebrew word used in that scripture is pronounced [naw-tsar], which means to protect, maintain, conceal, and hide something, and in all these, one that really caught my eye was the word 'Besieged,' which means surrounded, usually by an army, so that nothing and no one can go in or out, and for pictorial context, you can think of the Children of Israel standing outside the wall of Jericho, ready to tear it down at God’s command, with those within the wall, from king to pauper, shaking on their feet, wondering when it would be indeed over for them. It’s pretty clear now that what it meant to 'guard' then is beyond the nowadays very easily ‘slappable’ security guards that many of us see 'guarding.'

You know, all this talk reminds me of 1 Peter 5:8, which says, “Stay alert! Watch out for your great enemy, the devil. He prowls around like a roaring lion, looking for whom to devour…” Another warning, I see.

By now, you—like I am—should be wondering what the fuss about this heart is. What do you mean I should surround my heart with a military-grade army, the same little heart that just pumps blood and helps me be a living, breathing being? Is it really that deep? Short answer? Yes, and the long answer? We’ll see.

Now, based on what we know, three things are clear:

1. There is a struggle
2. There is an enemy out for you, and
3. Your heart isn’t just the battleground; it is the winner’s prize.

I mean, all these should be clear by now. Why would you guard something that isn’t important or valuable? Why is God asking us to protect something that isn’t worth protecting? And why do we need to constantly watch if everything is smooth and well?

1 Samuel 16:7 NLT ...The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”

Let’s go back to our scripture and pick out the one in Proverbs 27:19 that says, "As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the real person." If you are unaware, I am a scientist; however, it does not require a scientist to perform all of these calculations. And, based on the parameters listed above, it shouldn’t take us too much time to deduce that YOU are actually your heart. Your heart or mind, if I may, is a big determinant of who you are, and whoever wins the battle for your heart has won you over.

See, I strongly believe that everything we see outside you points directly to your heart, the things you feed it, and the things that are in it. I mean, the Bible already tells us that “as a man thinks in his heart, so is he,” and we often interpret this verse in a ‘dream big’ way, focusing on pursuing big goals, imagining ourselves as whatever and whoever, and embracing the 'thinking great to being great' mindset. Those things are important, but even more important is bringing them to the context of who they make us. "Everything we do flows from it" literally means everything we do, not just what we achieve or get, but how we think and even how we behave and treat the next person.

I should also state this clearly so there is no confusion about my intentions: my aim is not to lord over your decisions or to prescribe how you should live or behave, because more often than not, people who are desperate to make a mark on others, especially by forcing them to see through a different lens, have not yet learned how to truly understand them. What I want is for you to see yourself by looking into your heart.

Again, because most people are not living consciously. They are responding. Reacting. Repeating patterns they did not design. They are drawn to things they cannot explain, making decisions that feel personal but are often inherited, shaped by past experiences, fears, desires, and assumptions they have never questioned. And because they have never paused to examine these things, they begin to confuse familiarity with truth.

Because at a certain point, it ceases to be merely stating, “This is just who I am.” But to stop and ask, “Why am I this way?”

I’m also doing this to just draw attention to the fact that we have neglected the biggest influencer we’ve ever had after the Holy Spirit; in fact, even the Holy Spirit speaks to us through our hearts. We’ve taken the heart so lightly that we don’t even care what it means. It is why we, as Christians armed with this level of knowledge and understanding, still expose ourselves to whatever, all in the name of trying to fit in and experience, not realizing and understanding that we have been called to separation and consecration. We are in the world and not of the world, the same way salt is in soup and water is of the soup. There is a mandate on our heads, but how do we stand distinct and unadulterated if we are powered by the very same thing we are to influence?

Of course, the heart is the best place to start. Fill your heart and mind with the right things, and in no time, every part of you will be dancing to the same tune. Remember, “be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind…" The Bible calls us salt, and now I know that it wasn’t just talking about our value in taste but even in quality. You see, salt in the context of the days of the Bible was a thing of value and economic power; it was way beyond being used to cook and add to taste. It was an object of preservation, it was a currency, and it was referred to as 'white gold. ' It was even used by the Romans as a metaphor for the eternal nature of one’s contributions to society.

I took a step further to check what happens when it’s exposed to air for too long, and guess what? Jesus said it first: it absorbs moisture and loses its flavor and preservative ability, then it becomes useless and just trampled as sand.

It is important to note that the salt itself doesn’t spoil, but it can become unsafe to consume, meaning you might not necessarily lose your salvation (I mean, as long as you keep believing in Jesus), but you are useless in terms of value added. See, we started with the heart, but here we are already talking about being useful and adding value; that is how far this thing goes, and we haven’t even gotten anywhere near how deep it runs.

“Out of it determines the course of your destiny” is serious talk, and the Bible did not mince words about that. It starts at the heart, and it continues throughout destiny. We really shouldn't joke about the heart or treat it with levity. It is one reason our beloved Psalmist cried time and time again, “…search my heart…" I don’t think we should leave it to David anymore; it should be a daily cry for us as well.

Search my heart, Lord, because now I know it influences my thoughts and my personhood. Know my thoughts because I know they determine the course of my actions, and see if there be any wicked way in me, because I would never know on my own.