The Wellspring Of Life

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.

Proverbs 4:23

Underground water reservoirs are being contaminated with all manner of chemicals, some of them carcinogenic. The gasoline additive MBTE has been leaking from storage tanks nationwide; arsenic has been found in New England well water; and chemicals from fertilizers are polluting wells in agricultural areas.

The water that comes out of a rural kitchen faucet is only as pure as the well water that supplies it. A tiny bit of a deadly chemical is enough to cause authorities to seal the well out of concern for its users’ health. The human heart is like an underground reservoir: what comes out of the mouth of man will be only as pure as the heart-reservoir that supplies it (Mark 7:17-23). Just as governments are getting tough on polluters, we need to get tough with ourselves about what goes into the spiritual reservoir of the heart. We cannot willingly be contaminated by the world and then expect our hearts to flow with purity and life. It is up to us to safeguard our hearts. How tough are you being on yourself when it comes to keeping your heart pure with all diligence?

A pure external life—speech, thoughts, actions, desires—begins at a deeper level. The heart is the wellspring of life. Purity begets purity.

Make and keep me pure within.

CHARLES WESLEY