Willow Ridge Sermons

July 20th, 2025 • "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life." – Proverbs 4:23

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Creators and Guests

Host

David Allen

Executive Pastor of Connections & Care

What is Willow Ridge Sermons?

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Well, good morning.

Welcome.

Just extend that welcome that Berger just shared with us.

I'll be standing back there in the back at our table back there, so if you're a guest today

and have questions about Willow Ridge Church or just would like to introduce yourself, I'd

love to meet you.

So at the conclusion of the service, I'll be standing back there to greet you.

We're going to be looking at Proverbs chapter 4, verse 23 this morning, so if you want to

go ahead and turn to that passage, we'll be kind of right in that area this morning.

Also, I want to state again what Berger had just said.

Pastor Joel and Pastor Bo are going to be up in Black Mountain this week, so pray for them

and the students, as well as be praying for the adults who are with them all this week for

their safety and just their time together doing what God has led us to do over the last several

years, and that is partner with Black Mountain Children's Home.

And then also, you notice there's a card in the seat close to you.

It's our first session of discipleship studies that we have this coming school year.

We kind of run, follow the school, so we have four sessions.

This session, number one, another one in the fall, winter, and then two at the beginning

of next year.

Some wonderful studies.

What we try to do is look for some felt knee type studies, but we also look for the biblical

studies, so there's plenty of options that you have there.

Please register.

That just helps me know where I need to establish that class.

So, if you would register for those classes as we get close to them, I think you'll see

a lot of different interests there for you to partake and be a part of.

If you're new this week, or you've come a couple of weeks, we're in our series where we're trying

to understand how scripture can be misused, or how scripture sometimes is misinterpreted.

So, that's what we are looking at this morning.

Proverbs 4, verse 23 says, keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs

of life.

Would you pray with me?

Father, we thank you so much for the journey that we've been on together as a church, trying

to understand more your word, and how sometimes we quote it out of context, sometimes we misunderstand

it, but Lord, you're gracious to continue to teach us your word, and guiding us in understanding

it, and in its application.

So, Lord, we thank you.

I thank you for each person that's in this auditorium.

Lord, as your word is spoken, I pray that we just have ears to hear, and eyes to see what

it is that you desire for our lives.

Lord, we thank you, and we ask this prayer in your name.

Amen.

Got a couple of questions for you this morning to think about.

Are you an extrovert, or are you an introvert?

Are you one of those persons that the best place for you to be is in a room by yourself,

or with a close friend, or out in the woods, walking on a trail, or one of your best spots

is to be in a room filled with people?

Do you get your energy with a room that is crowded with people and all that's going on

in that room, or do you get your energy just walking on a path all by yourself, experiencing

what that path has?

All of us are wired differently, aren't we?

God has created us to be very unique, but there's some times in our life where relationships

are going to happen.

They have to happen.

True or false?

You don't have to answer this out loud, but relationships are messy.

Relationships are messy.

All of a sudden, a person has just jumped into your mind.

I apologize for that.

The video may be playing in your mind of what the situation is, what the person or who that

person is, but relationships can be messy.

You take any relationship for that matter.

A marriage relationship, your relationship that you have with your children, maybe the relationship

that you have with your grown parents, maybe the relationship that you have with your

siblings, whether that be young, or whether that be old in my case, the relationship that

you could have with neighbors, friends, co-workers.

That's a lot of relationships, isn't it?

There's bound to be some messy in there somewhere.

And sometimes it's a lot of messy.

Sometimes it's emotionally draining.

Sometimes it's challenging.

Sometimes there's confrontation.

But you get the idea.

But God has created you and I to be in relationships, right?

We see that in Genesis in the first three chapters where he creates life.

And he creates life to be in relationship with one another.

And he creates life to be in relationship with him.

God is a God of relationships.

And he desires for you and I to be in those relationships.

The Bible overflows with descriptions of relationships and stories about relationships.

One of my favorite is in Samuel, 1 and 2 Samuel, the relationship that David and Jonathan have

together.

It's a beautiful story.

I would encourage you to go read it.

God's word is filled with insight on how to navigate relationships.

But they're messy.

And there's nothing wrong with messy until it moves to unhealthy.

Proverbs is a guidebook on how to navigate the messy in relationships.

It's wisdom on how to manage relationships as a whole.

Before we examine our verse for this morning, I just wanted to go back and kind of share some

thoughts on Proverbs.

Because if you've never read Proverbs, maybe it's a little daunting for you.

Or maybe it's kind of like, ah, the Proverbs is one of my favorite books of the Bible.

Proverbs is where I find my, one of my favorite verses, Proverbs 3, 5, and 6.

Proverbs is where we see a lot of what God had done through Solomon's life.

A couple of weeks ago when I talked about the verse in 2 Chronicles, it was Solomon having

a conversation with God.

And as you continue to read through the Old Testament of Solomon's life, you just see

it continue to play out.

Solomon asked God for not riches, but Solomon asked God for wisdom to guide and govern his

people.

And so you and I then get to see the wisdom books in Scripture, and we get to see God respond

through Solomon in that.

Biblical wisdom is this.

Wisdom is the ability to make godly choices in life.

So I'm not talking about earthly wisdom, the wisdom that you and I just kind of gained

through life, but I'm talking about biblical wisdom, wisdom that God gives us.

Fee and Stewart write in their book, How to Read the Bible for All It's Worth, one of the

books that we've taught in one of our discipleship studies, and probably will come back around

again, says this, Hebrew wisdom is a category of literature that is unfamiliar to most modern

Christians.

Though a significant portion of the Bible is devoted to wisdom writings, Christians sometimes

either misunderstand or misapply this material, losing benefits that God intended for them.

When properly understood and used, however, wisdom is a helpful resource for Christian living.

When misused, it can provide a basis for selfish, materialistic, short-sighted behavior, just

the opposite of what God intended.

Then Ray Orthlin says in his commentary on Proverbs,

Through the book of Proverbs, God coaches us in the wisdom we need throughout the long

and complicated path of everyday lives.

You see, the first seven verses in Proverbs gives you and I the theme of that entire book

of the Bible.

This helps you and I as readers to gain the context for the whole book of the Bible.

If you want to just flip over to chapter one of Proverbs, the first seven verses, this is

what we read there.

The Proverbs of Solomon, who was the king who asked God for wisdom, the son of David, king

of Israel, to know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, to receive instruction

in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity, to give prudence to the simple knowledge

and discretion to the youth, let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who

understands obtain guidance, to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise

and their riddles.

The fear of the Lord is the beginning of knowledge.

Fools despise wisdom and instruction.

So right there, Solomon sets up for you and I what will happen through the rest of the book

of Proverbs, 31 chapters in all.

If you're looking for a reading plan of scripture to spend some time in personal devotion and

reading of God's word, I would encourage you to take the book of Proverbs and read it one

day for an entire month.

So if you're in a month of 30 days, you've got to double up.

But it fits perfectly for those months for 31.

And you will discover what God intends for you and I to know, the wisdom that God intends

for you and I to gain in our life as we walk through this life, as we experience relationships

along the way.

The first seven chapters in Proverbs are from the viewpoint of a father and a mother who

are sharing words of wisdom to their son.

You see that phrase, my son, over and over again in these first seven chapters.

And this is where we find our verse for the day.

You see on the screen here in a second behind me, I wanted to use four different translations

of this verse.

Because within these four different translations, we just get to see the understanding a little

better.

We get to see how the words come alive for this verse.

In the ESV that I read just a little bit ago, keep your heart with all vigilance, for from

it flows the springs of life.

Then in the NASB, watch over your heart with all diligence, for from it flow the springs of

life.

And then in the NIV, above all else, guard your heart for everything you do flows from it.

And then in the NLT, guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your

life.

So how does this verse get misused then?

It looks pretty simple, right?

Very much we get what we see.

Let's say I'm uncomfortable about sharing anything that reveals who I am, my past, my present.

I keep all my relationships at a surface level.

I talk about the weather, I talk about what I eat, which I do enjoy talking about what I

eat.

I talk about the things in life that just kind of seem right there.

But I never have those conversations that really go down deep, what I'm struggling with.

Maybe how my relationships are going, whether they're messy or not.

I just want to keep things at the surface level.

And when I do get close to somebody, I start to pull back.

I start to find reasons for why I can't spend time with that person or that small group of

people.

This is where that verse comes in.

Because I might say to you or I might say to the group of people, I might say to them,

I can't meet anymore or I can't spend time anymore because I need to guard my heart.

I need to keep myself at a distance.

So what I've done is I've taken God's word and I've made it an excuse for why I can't engage

in relationships that God has created.

There's one thing that I have learned about relationships in those moments where I prejudge

a person before I ever know their name is that God usually shows me that I was wrong.

That God usually shows me how much I would have missed out if I didn't extend that relationship

days and months and years down the road.

You see, when we use scripture as an excuse for why we will not engage in relationships,

we miss out on what God would intend for us to gain within those relationships.

So it's important for you and I to make sure that we never use God's word as an excuse.

To really get to know what God's word desires for us to know.

You see, we don't want to have a sign on our life that basically says,

no one allowed past this point.

Parents, do you ever see a sign like that on your child's door?

I think I'm back in the day, I think I even had that on my door.

It was a nice little red sign and I could take the plate off and put a different saying on there

and I think one of them said, do not go beyond this point.

And sometimes in life, you and I do the same thing.

Now I get it.

I understand why people can have their guard up.

There's times in my life where I've had my guard up.

People in our lives can go beyond messy and straight to mean.

They're just mean-spirited.

Or as I mentioned in Proverbs, they're foolish and they're evil.

If you've ever been hurt by one or several people in your relationship,

you've kind of built that system or that mechanism that you think is protecting you

and chances are may be protecting you in certain relationships.

You're in that protection mode for safety reasons.

And there is nothing wrong with that.

Nothing wrong with that.

Because there can be people in your life that you need to protect yourself from for all kinds of reasons.

You and I just have to be careful not to make Scripture a place for finding excuses for our lives

when God wants to take us further into the relationships that He desires for our life.

One of the beauty that I get to hear as being kind of over adult ministry

is hearing stories of people who have engaged in small groups.

Especially when they say, you know, I really didn't want to go to a small group, you know.

I'm fine being me.

I don't need to really share what's going on in my life

and I don't really need to get to know anybody else.

I love it when I hear that story say, you know what, I wish I would have done this sooner.

I wish I would have engaged in a small group a whole lot sooner

because my life has been enriched by their journey with the Lord

for what I have heard and heard from them in their experience.

You and I need relationships.

God has formed us to be in those relationships with others.

You will find the picture of what to do in relationships

and what not to do in relationships in God's Word.

It's there.

A lot of times we just don't know

because we haven't taken the time to dive in

and to read and to study

and just soak up our lives in God's Word.

Keep your heart with all vigilance

for from it flow the springs of life.

So how should this verse be understood for you and I?

It's not talking about a way to get out of relationships.

As good as that might sound at times,

it's not talking about how to keep people at a distance.

And letting them into our life.

But it is talking about the necessity

of protecting yourself from the foolishness of this world

and the evils of this world.

If you'll take time and to read all through Proverbs,

you're going to see those words,

those concepts of foolishness and evil.

And the intent here is for you and I to guard ourselves

from the things of this world.

Proverbs is also encouraging you and I

to choose the wise way which God intends for us to go.

You see, wise living has benefits

and foolish living has temporary satisfaction

but certain defeating outcomes.

Listen to some of these Proverbs.

Proverbs 3.35 says,

The wise will inherit honor,

but fools get disgrace.

Proverbs 12.15 says,

The way of a fool is right in his own eyes,

but a wise man listens to advice.

Proverbs 13.20,

Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise,

but the companion of fools will suffer harm.

And then Proverbs 14.16,

One who is wise is cautious

and turns away from evil,

but a fool is reckless and careless.

So here's what we gain from Proverbs 4.23.

Protect your heart by standing guard.

It says in this verse,

Keep your heart.

Guard your heart.

There used to be this slogan by athletic wearer,

Under Armour,

you may be familiar with it,

especially if you like college sports.

The same was,

Protect this house.

It was plastered all over stadiums and arenas.

It was a reminder to those athletes

that when an opposing team comes into our stadium

or into our arena,

we're going to do all that we can do

to make sure we win.

We're going to play to the best of our abilities.

And if we can get even more than 100%,

we're going to try our best to do that.

My wife and I love watching

women's college basketball

just because of what Carolina has done

over the last several years in that area.

I love Carolina football as well.

But if you're a Carolina fan,

you know what's in my mind at this moment.

But the women went for 71 games straight,

not losing a home game.

That's amazing.

And then this team that we don't like talking about,

UConn,

came in and messed that all up.

But the idea of protecting the house

is the idea of you and I

standing guard and protecting our heart.

Do whatever it takes for you and I to do that.

You see,

when we look back at those verses,

there are words that show up

that we read in those translations.

Keep,

watch,

guard.

You are protecting who you are in Jesus Christ.

That's who you're protecting.

You're not protecting your image,

but you're protecting the image of Jesus Christ in you.

How God has created you

and how God has formed you.

That is what you're protecting.

You're protecting yourself from someone,

some habits,

or something in your life

that a scripture can talk about

will take root.

And when something takes root in your life

that is opposite of God,

that's not a good thing.

When I read the words,

keep,

watch,

and guard,

I think about

the idea of watchmen

that appear in the Bible.

Some were on the walls of cities

as lookouts for surprise enemy attacks.

God appointed prophets

as spiritual watchmen

over the souls of his people.

In Ezekiel 33, 7,

he said,

Son of man,

I have made you a watchman

for the people of Israel.

So hear the word I speak

and give them warning from me.

You see,

the prophet's job as a watchman

was to urge God's people

to live faithfully

and warn them

of the perils involved

in falling away

from the Lord

and doing evil.

As watchmen,

the prophets were also called

to warn wicked people

of the judgment and destruction

that would come their way

unless they turned

from their evil ways.

With everything in you,

with everything in me,

watch over your heart.

And then we see in this verse

this phrase,

with all vigilance.

With all vigilance.

Protect your heart

by being on the ready.

Protect your heart

by being on the ready.

A watchman is ineffective

if he or she is sleeping

at the wall.

A watchman is ineffective

if he or she,

their skills of protecting

and defending,

are rusty.

You can't stand back

and hope for the best

if you're a watchman

on the wall.

You could,

but that's not going

to go well for you

and it's not going

to go well

for those you're protecting.

When the things

in this life come

that are not of God,

you have to know

how to recognize them

and know how to respond.

Listen to the words

that are used

in this part of the verse

from those verses.

Vigilance

is the action

or state

of keeping careful watch

for possible danger

or difficulties.

Diligence,

careful and persistent

work or effort.

Above all else,

it's got to be top priority.

It's got to be top priority.

You see,

this is what vigilance

looks like in your life

and what it looks like

in my life.

Vigilance is walking

with God every day.

It's reading the Bible.

It's obeying

and applying the Bible.

It's praying to God.

It's those conversations

we have with God

on a regular basis.

It's confessing sin.

It's evaluating your life

against the Bible

and then it's a repeat.

It's all those things

over and over

and over again.

That's being vigilant

and guarding

and protecting your heart

from this world

and the foolishest things

that we run into.

Walking with God

puts you in ready.

So what's at stake?

What's at stake

is the makeup of your heart.

The ending of that verse says

for from it flow

the springs

of life.

What would happen

if you and I

went into

and had an open heart surgery?

Not because we were

physically

having an issue

but someone wanted to know

what was happening

in our life,

happening

in who we are.

What springs

would be flowing

from your life?

Life-giving springs

or polluted

and tainted springs?

Bonnerhoff says

in the book

we've gotten

these scriptures from

to teach this series

in the summer,

he says,

in Jewish literature

the word for heart

is an all-encompassing term

that includes

the mind,

the emotions,

and the will.

It is the center

of one's being

and the source

from which

all actions

come.

God has placed

a lot of interest

in our heart.

God looks at our heart

to know who we are.

The heart is who you are

and from it flows your life.

From it flows

what God is doing.

And as a follower

of Jesus Christ

what should flow

is the very character

of Jesus Christ himself.

In Matthew chapter 12

verse 34

Jesus was saying

of the Pharisees

or said to the Pharisees

he said,

you broad of vipers

how can you speak good

when you are evil?

For out of the abundance

of the heart

the mouth speaks.

So what is in our heart

comes forth

from our lips.

You can't be passive

when it comes

to your heart.

You can't be okay

with the social norms.

If you and I

are going to protect it

if you and I

are going to guard it

if you and I

are going to stand ready

that may mean

some difficult

conversations

that may mean

some difficult decisions.

It may mean

that you quit

hanging out

with a certain person.

Students

you might think

that might be

addressed to you

but I hate to say it

even as we get

older in life

there's people

sometimes we just

don't need to

spend time with.

We can be a godly

example to them

but if so much

time spent with them

affects who we are

in Christ

it's time to limit

the time we spend

with them.

That may mean

you quit listening

to certain individuals

who want to speak

into your life

because they're not

speaking the things

of God.

they're speaking

the things

of the world

they're not

speaking the things

of God.

You might need

to get off

social media

that might be

hard for some

of you

but if it's

things that are

filling your mind

filling your heart

and maybe the things

that God doesn't

want there

you find

something new

and better for you

sometimes you might

need to find

something new

and better for you

to watch

on TV

or your phone

I know I've

watched shows

and I've watched

news

and I'm like

I can feel

the anger

in my heart

and I can feel

it in my spirit

and I can feel

it in my mind

and I'm like

why are you

still watching it?

Why are you

listening?

Because the spirit

of God in me

is going

no, no, no

so it might

be those things

that we need

to make changes

you see

any time

that God

is doing

a work

in our life

and desires

to do

a work

in our life

it may mean

that we're

going to have

to make

a tough

decision

it may mean

that we're

going to make

a decision

in our life

that I'm

no longer

going to do

what I'm doing

say what I'm

saying

think what I'm

thinking

your heart

is to reflect

the person

and character

of Jesus

Christ

your heart

and my heart

is to reflect

the person

and character

of Jesus

Christ

so I want

to wrap

it up

by looking

at the

surrounding

verses

of verse

because

that's the

context

and that's

one of the

things we've

been talking

about through

this series

context

yes you can

look at this

one verse

and gain a lot

from it

but when you

look at the

context

of what Solomon

is saying here

what he's sharing

with his son

again God's word

is always amazing

it never

surprises me

it corrects me

it guides me

it enlightens me

helps me know

when I'm wrong

and it helps me

know where I

need to be on

track with God

so wrapping it up

center your life

on the word of God

center your life

on the word of God

proverbs 4

verse 20

says

my son

be attentive

to my words

attentive

listen

focus on me

you ever done that

to anybody

I need you to look

right here

incline your ear

to my sayings

verse 21

let them

the words

not escape

from your sight

keep them

within your heart

I remember

several

different passages

I think

it's

forgive me

it just ran

into my head

in the

in the Old Testament

where it talks

about

they have

ears to hear

but do not hear

eyes to see

but do not see

I don't want

to be that person

verse 22

for they

speaking of

words of God

they are

life

God's word

gives you

and I

life

to those

who find

them

and get

this

healing

I know

I need

healing

in my life

I know

I need

healing

in my

life

in my

relationship

with the

Lord

I need

healing

in my

relationship

with others

I need

healing

of my

spirit

and my

mind

and Solomon

says to his

son

he says

God's word

these words

you will find

healing

to all of

their flesh

the next

next thing

protect your

life

from the

trappings

of this

world

again

if you

read

throughout

Proverbs

you see

this

protect

your

life

from the

trappings

of this

world

verse 23

keep your

heart

with all

vigilance

for from it

flow the

springs

of life

third thing

don't let

people's

ungodly

talk

get inside

your head

it can

happen

back in

college I

had a

close friend

man we

just we

spent all

time together

he was

the reason

for after

football

continuing to

work out

during college

because he

and his

brothers I

looked at

them physically

and said I

want to look

like that

well I

didn't stay

that way

very long

but anyways

I remember

spending a

spring break

with him

it was just

he and I

and I

remember

during that

entire week

my language

changed

he would

always use

a few

choice words

and my

language changed

all through

the week

and as a

believer

even after I

would say

something out of

my own mouth

like dude

that is not

who you are

why are you

allowing yourself

in the companionship

of a friend

that you love

and like

but even though

he's not

following the Lord

why would you

allow that

to happen

because I

placed myself

in that

moment

in that

relationship

and allowed

that ungodly

talk

to get

inside

my head

verse 24

says

put away

from you

crooked

speech

and put

devious

talk

far

from you

there's

that

barrier

there's

that

protection

there's

that

pushing

off

and then

finally

keep your

eyes

and your

feet

down the

path

that goes

with God

keep

your

eyes

and your

feet

down

the

path

that goes

with God

we see

that all

through scripture

this idea

of a journey

this idea

of a path

this idea

of going

through a

gate

verse 25

says

let your

eyes look

directly

forward

and your

gaze be

straight

before you

if that's

not enough

he says

ponder

the path

of your

feet

I'm looking

down

where I'm

going

then all

your ways

will be

sure

I'm

pondering

the path

of my

feet

God

am I

going

the

direction

you want

me to

and then

he says

in verse

he says

do not

swerve

to the

right

and to

the

left

turn

your

foot

away

from

evil

so in

that

moment

Solomon

lays out

some

great

instructions

for his

son

Solomon

God

lays out

for you

and I

some

great

instruction

for our

life

as we

navigate

relationships

as we

navigate

our

life

God's

word

is there

to guide

and to

be in

the

places

to be

in the

moment

to be

in the

relationships

that God

would intend

for you

and I

to be

let's

pray

together

Father God

your word

does not

return

void

so even

in the

reading

and the

hearing

of your

word

you speak

to us

wherever

it is

that we

are

in that

moment

and so

Lord

I thank

you

I thank

you so

much

Lord

for who

you are

and what

you do

in our

life

I pray

Father

if we

ever

struggle

with

spending

time

your

word

that

you

would

just

give

the

nudge

that

need

to be

your

word

if we

find

excuses

Lord

take

those

excuses

away

Lord

help

help us

realize

the

benefits

being

relationships

help

realize

the

benefit

being

godly

relationships

Lord

we just

thank you

for who

you are

the

love

that

know

your

word

for

each

and

the

calling

that

you

place

our

lives

come

into

relationship

with

you

that

you

desire

Lord

there's

anybody

here

that's

ever

feared

having

that

relationship

with

you

they've

ever

been

given

reasons

they

have

reasons

that

they've

just

said

you

and

kept

you

arm's

length

Lord

pray

that

Lord

you

would

soften

their

heart

their

mind

and

their

spirit

know

how

valuable

it is

have

relationship

with

you

it's

not

only

eternal

but

it's

also

this

life

this

earth

Father

thank

you

for

our

time

together

this

morning

our

worship

you

and

the

hearing

your

word

thank

you

Father

ask

this

prayer

your

name

Amen

that's

for

this

week's

message

sure

check

back

week

for

new

episode

and

the

meantime

you

can

visit

online

willowridgechurch.org

or by

searching for

Willow Ridge Church

on Facebook

Instagram

and YouTube

thanks again

for listening

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