Store Them in Your Heart

Proverbs 4:20–22 My son, give attention to my words; Incline your ear to my sayings.²¹ Do not let them depart from your eyes; Keep them in the midst of your heart;²² For they are life to those who find them, And health to all their flesh.

Years ago, I received a text out of the blue from a young lady who was going through a difficult season. She said she was sitting on the steps of the church during closed hours. When I asked her why, she replied, “I feel close to God when I am here.”

I remember thinking, But God is omnipresent — He is with you wherever you go.

Not long after, we were talking again after a Sunday sermon. The message that day was about life before Christ and life after Christ. She told me she didn’t feel any difference between who she was before salvation and who she was after.

I paused for a moment and gently said:

“Think of it this way:

Before Christ, you were dead in your sins — now you are made alive in Christ.

Before Christ, you were destined for hell — now you are destined for heaven.

Before Christ, you were a child of the Devil — now you are a child of God.

Before Christ, there was no real hope — now you have a living hope.

Before Christ, your flesh ruled your life — now the Holy Spirit indwells you and gives you power to live the abundant life.”

She looked at me and said, “You know, I never looked at it that way.”

How often are we just like this young lady? We hear and read these foundational truths about who we are in Christ, yet they never seem to travel from the ears to the heart. I’ve often found myself skimming Scripture just to get my daily reading done, only to be distracted before His Word has a chance to sink deeply into my heart.

Proverbs also instructs us to keep His words in our hearts. That means not just reading them, but storing them. Because when trouble comes — and it will — we will need to draw from the well of our hearts. If nothing has been stored there, we will only have the world’s philosophy to pull from, and there is no life in those words. True life comes only from Christ.

Dear Lord, help us to incline our ears to your word, for we know in You alone is Life. May your words never depart from us, but rather may they sink deep into the well of our hearts, that we may draw from them at any moment. For we know that the things of this world can never satisfy our deepest longing. It is only You who truly satisfies, In Your Jesus name we pray...Amen.