申十12 以色列啊，现在耶和华你神向你所要的是什么？只要你敬畏耶和华你的神，行祂一切的道路，全心全魂爱祂并事奉祂。

　　帖前三13 好使你们的心，当我们主耶稣同祂众圣徒来临的时候，在我们的神与父面前，得以坚固，在圣别上无可指摘。

　　因为心是我们的代表，所以所罗门在箴言四章二十三节说，“你要切切保守你心，因为生命的果效发之于心。”……保守的原文意思是护卫。我们应当护卫我们的心，胜过护卫一切，因为生命的果效发之于心。……心与生命的源头、生命的泉源以及生命的流出都有关联。我们首先有源头，其次有泉源，然后有流出。

　　我们日常生活所有的果效都是由心发出的。……电的流通怎样依赖开关；照样，我们的日常生活也依赖我们的心向什么东西打开，向什么东西关闭。我们的心是我们这个人的生命，我们日常生活和我们全人的开关。箴言四章二十三节的“生命”，含示生机的元素—生命的元素，也含示我们日常的生活行动，事实上就是我们整个人的生活。因此，这节经文里的“生命”是包罗一切的。我们人类都有人的一生，这人生有生机的元素，也有日常的生活。这生命的开关就是心（帖撒罗尼迦前书生命读经，二一七至二一八页）。

　　Deut. 10:12 And now, O Israel, what does Jehovah your God ask of you except that you fear Jehovah your God so that you would walk in all His ways and love Him and serve Jehovah your God with all your heart and with all your soul.

　　1 Thes. 3:13 So that He may establish your hearts blameless in holiness before our God and Father at the coming of our Lord Jesus with all His saints.

　　Because the heart is our representative, Solomon says in Proverbs 4:23, “Keep your heart with all vigilance; for from it are the issues of life.”…The Hebrew word rendered “keep” means guard. We should guard our heart above all because out of it are the issues of life….The heart is related to the sources of life, the springs of life, and the issues of life. First we have the source, then the spring, and then the issue.

　　Out of the heart come all the issues of our daily life. As human beings, we have life, and this life acts through our heart…. As the flow of electricity depends on the switch, so our daily living is dependent on what our heart switches on and off. Our heart is the switch of our human life, of our daily life, of our being. The word life in Proverbs 4:23 implies an organic element, the element of life; it also implies our daily living and activities, in fact, our entire human life. Hence, the word life in this verse is inclusive. As human beings, we have a human life, and this human life has an organic element and also a daily living. The switch of this life is the heart. (Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, p. 182)

　　假如一位弟兄正在读经，旁边有一只狗不停吠叫，很搅扰他。……当这位弟兄读经受到狗叫的搅扰时，他的心里有个东西催使他对狗喝斥。这样喝斥是从心的源头所发出的结果。这个例证说出心是我们全人行动的代表。我们物质身体的活动和行动依赖我们物质的心；照样，我们的日常生活依赖我们心理的心。我们如何行事为人，乃在于我们有何种的心。

　　要作一个活的信徒，关系到我们的灵和心。就着道理而言，我们可以说，我们运用我们的灵就活了；但是就着实行而言，运用我们的灵好像常常行不通。……运用灵没有果效的原因，乃是心没有活动。这意思是说，心出了问题。也许心思没有更新、圣别、变化，也许没有被主浸透并被祂占有，却充满属世的事物。我们可以运用我们的灵说，“赞美主！”但这样用灵也许不能叫我们活。当我们的心活跃时，运用灵才有用。

　　我们的心若是沉睡不醒，运用我们的灵呼求主名就没有果效。我们行动的机关—我们的心—若是沉睡的，这样的运用灵是行不通的。这就是为何我们必须彻底对付我们的心。这对付必须包括我们的心思、情感和意志。我们的心思必须是基督的心思，我们的情感必须被基督的爱浸透，我们的意志必须与祂的意志是一。我们心的光景若是这样，我们的心就是活跃的，并且是尽功用的。当我们的心一活跃，我们呼求主就会非常有果效。……我们需要祷告：“主，怜悯我。我要我的心思得着更新，我要我的情感充满你的爱，我要我的意志真实地与你的意志是一。”如果我们有这样的心，那作我们行动机关的心就会得坚固，在圣别上无可指摘，就是在成为圣别的光景里无可指摘（帖撒罗尼迦前书生命读经，二一八、二三二至二三三页）。

　　参读：召会事奉的中心异象，第五篇。

　　Suppose as a brother is studying the Bible he is disturbed by the barking of a dog…. As he is reading the Bible and is disturbed by the dog’s barking, something within this brother’s heart motivates him to shout at the dog. This shouting is an issue that springs out from the source of the heart. This is an illustration of the heart as the acting representative of our entire being. The activities and movements of our physical body depend on our physical heart. In like manner, our daily living depends on our psychological heart. The way we act and behave depends on the kind of heart we have.

　　To be a living believer involves both our spirit and our heart. Doctrinally, we may say that we can become living by exercising our spirit. But in practice often it seems that the exercise of our spirit does not work….The reason the exercise of the spirit may not work is that the heart does not act. This means that there is something wrong in the heart. Perhaps the mind is not renewed, sanctified, transformed; it may not be saturated with the Lord and occupied by Him. Instead, it may be filled with worldly things. We may exercise our spirit and say, “Praise the Lord!” However, this exercise may not work to make us living. The exercise of the spirit works only when our heart is active.

　　If our heart is dormant or asleep, exercising our spirit to call on the name of the Lord will not be effective. This exercise cannot work if our acting agent, our heart, is dormant. This is the reason we need to deal thoroughly with our heart. This dealing must include our mind, emotion, and will. Our mind must be the mind of Christ, our emotion must be saturated with the love of Christ, and our will must be one with His will. If this is the condition of our heart, our heart will be active and functioning. Then if we call on the Lord when our heart is active, this calling will be very effective.

　　We need to pray, “Lord, have mercy on me. I want to have my mind renewed. I want to have my emotion filled with Your love. I want to have a will that is truly one with Your will.” If we have such a heart, then the heart as our acting agent will be established blameless in holiness, blameless in the state of being made holy. (Life-study of 1 Thessalonians, pp. 182-183, 194-195)

　　Further Reading: CWWL, 1975-1976, vol. 2, “The Central Vision for Serving the Church,” ch. 5