Proverbs 4:23 - Guard your heart

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.

Guarding our hearts from sin and the world is of chief importance. It has been said, "As a man thinks, so he is."

A wellspring is a source of continual supply -- often related to wells and water. We must guard our hearts from being polluted by sin as much as possible, as sin pollutes the living waters which are to flow from us.

1 Samuel 16:7 - The LORD does not look at the things man looks at...

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

But the LORD said unto Samuel, Look not on his countenance, or on the height of his stature; because I have refused him: for the LORD seeth not as man seeth; for man looketh on the outward appearance, but the LORD looketh on the heart.

God gave Samuel a new perspective. In these verses, God tells Samuel to pick a young David to be the future king, not one of David's seven older and arguably more qualified brothers.

While man often judges on outward appearance, God searches the heart.