As water reflects the face, so one’s life reflects the heart. (Proverbs 27:19 NIV)
Whenever I encounter specific scripture in the word of God, I feel like the revelation takes me back like a time machine. For some reason, I’m reminded of my childhood memories, and the connection is therapeutic. Being of African descent, I grew up in an environment where I heard the sayings of old wise tales and African proverbs. You know, the generation that didn’t mind sitting at the feet of the older folks and allowed them to impart wisdom. My generation was less high-tech than today’s generation. Still, it was an honor and a privilege to sit attentively in the presence of experience and wisdom for storytime. We didn’t have the advantage of watching TV all day because television only came on from 6 p.m. to 12 a.m. We spent most of our time outside playing games like Hide-and-seek, Hopscotch, Simon Say, etc. We gathered around the fire for storytime, listening to fiction, non-fiction, theatrical genres, and sayings when we were not playing. What a time! I must admit that before I was 10, I had more wisdom than the average kid because I was talking and acting like I had been around the block, forgot something, and came back around the block if that made sense.
For the most part, some sayings still live rent-free in my head today, such as, “The way you make your bed, that’s how you will lay in it; you can make it soft or hard.” Or the “Apple doesn’t fall too far from the tree.” My all-time favorite is, “By their fruit, we shall know them.” Looking back now, I had no idea these sayings would have impacted my life, but unfortunately, they did. The older I get, the more profound the meaning seems to be, and now I understand that the older folks’ wisdom is the guiding essence of who we are and what we are becoming. I said all this to say our lives reflect what we have been exposed to or accustomed to.
As we expound on the extensive meaning of wise sayings, what better insight to gain than from the Book of Proverbs, the book of wisdom written by the man of all knowledge, King Solomon himself? You may know a lot about yourself, but the Book of Proverbs is one of the best practical teaching guides for unveiling the hidden treasures of intricate wisdom in life. Let’s get into it: In Proverb 27:19, King Solomon gave a divine perspective of the reflection of life as it pertains to the heart. I don’t know about you, but this verse speaks volumes. For instance, we are all guilty of this when we encounter people who expect us to know or understand what was not conveyed or communicated. Our famous go-to sayings are: “I can’t read your mind” or “I don’t know what’s on/in your heart.” In other words, time is precious, and we don’t want to take the time to read between the lines or figure out what’s going on in a person’s mind or heart. Say what you mean!
On the contrary, in Proverb 27:19, King Solomon introduced a mind-blowing, weighty insight that our life mirrors our hearts. I’m warming up! In other words, we don’t need to look into a person’s heart to know what is going on to understand because it is plain as day; like looking in clear water reflects a person’s face, so does a person’s life reflect their heart. Catch this: the quality of one’s life reflects one’s heart’s condition, which ties in with the synergy of emotions, desires, and intentions. Better yet, our behavior, actions, attitudes, and motives all describe the condition of our heart, and it’s as clear as water reflects one’s face, good or bad. For example, Proverbs 4:23 says, “Out of our heart flows the issues of life.” Good flows from a healthy heart, and evil from a sick heart. The question becomes, what is the condition of your heart? Have you identified the effect it might be having on your life? If not, I challenge you to allow God to reveal the unhealthy areas (such as offense, anger, bitterness, resentment, jealousy, and unforgiveness) from your heart that need healing so you live a purpose-driven and prosperous life that mirrors a healthy heart.
Making the old new again