It’s Friday…Be On Guard

It’s Valentine’s Day weekend. A great opportunity to check our heart. Our heart, the wellspring of our life, is given free reign by most of us. We’re under the illusion that we can’t help how we feel, our emotions are considered the foundation of who we are. And as our feelings rise and fall as often like the direction of the wind, so do our lives. We are guided by them far more often than we like to think. It is a dangerous way to live.

King David could testify to that; His extraordinarily Godward heart usually led him into obeying the will of his Heavenly Father. But it also led him into temptation and a sin with catastrophic results. Even his heart, so often in sync with God’s, was fickle. And fickle hearts produce misdirected people.

We think when we turn our hearts over to God, that He governs us and shapes us automatically. That not what God’s Word says, however.

“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)

This is a command. We are to be careful about what we allow to influence our hearts. Our hearts cannot be an open door for ungodly influences. We are given the responsibility of being vigilant about their content.

Does our heart ride along like an anchorless ship on the waves of our emotions? Is it subject to deep swells and the rapidly changing tides of our feelings? If so, finding direction from God may be a challenge. We may be waiting for Him to shape our heart, while He’s waiting for us to guard it.

God will always do His part, but we must do ours. The wisdom of Proverbs 4:23 makes our vigilance our highest priority: “above all else.” That is the attention we are to give to our emotional swells. It is of utmost importance. Let’s Be On Guard at all times.

Have a lovely weekend. Make it better by worshiping The LORD with those who are vigilant in keeping their focus on pleasing Him with a heart undivided.

All For Jesus – Nothing More, Nothing Less, Nothing Else.

“He who is the blessed and only Sovereign, The King of kings and Lord of lords, who alone has immortality, who dwells in unapproachable light, whom no one has ever seen or can see, to Him be honor and eternal dominion. Amen.” (1 Timothy 6:15b-16)