On Keeping the Heart

John Flavel's "Keeping the Heart" is one of the best books written since the close of the Apostolic age. Readers will sense that Flavel was a man who truly did walk with God. His subject, the keeping and right ordering of the heart, is one of the most important and also most ignored aspects of the Christian life. It is also what separates those who go about their business for decades without giving thought to their hearts and those who commune with God in all that they do. Using Proverbs 4:23 ("Keep your heart with all vigilance for from it flow the springs of life."), Flavel teaches that the contents of the heart be laid bare, so that sin which is present is seen as sin and dealt with and the heart becomes pure in its devotion and affection for God. Flavel guides readers to accomplish this, not with law, but by constantly pointing to God's grace as the grounds and means for sanctification. John Flavel was not content to merely convey information. Rather, with each point he carefully took aim at the very soul of the reader and deftly fired shot after gospel-saturated, God-glorifying shot. Read this book slowly and prayerfully, allowing each purifying blow to have its full effect on your heart.