August 30, 2005

 

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Put away from you a deceitful mouth, and put perverse lips far from you. Let your eyes look straight ahead, and your eyelids look right before you. Ponder the path of your feet, and let all your ways be established. Do not turn to the right or the left; remove your foot from evil.

--Proverbs 4:23-27

 

In his book, Fan the Flame, J. Stowell said, “Heart is used in Scripture as the most comprehensive term for the authentic person. It is the part of our being where we desire, deliberate, and decide. It has been described as ‘the place of conscious and decisive spiritual activity,’ ‘the comprehensive term for a person as a whole; his feelings, desires, passions, thought, understanding, and will,’ and ‘the center of a person—the place to which God turns.’”

 

If you’re a parent, then you remember when you brought your first child home not knowing exactly what to do with him or her. I can remember when my wife and I brought our first-born home and sometimes we’d just stand over the crib and watch to make sure he was OK and breathing.

 

A child is precious to a parent. No matter how old they are—whether they’re in the crib, in college, or into their careers—they’re always greatly valued and parents will do everything they can to protect them.

 

In the same way, God also tells us also to watch over and protect our hearts. Your heart is your inner person, character, and core being—the part of you that only God sees and knows. It is where love blooms and relationships are built, where we feel life’s greatest joys, and where we experience life’s deepest sorrows. Protect your heart and pray that nothing would be able to penetrate that personal place that is designed for you and Him.

 

WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU FROM THIS DAY FORWARD IS DEPENDENT UPON HOW WELL YOU TAKE CARE OF YOUR HEART.