GUARDING AND KEEPING YOUR HEART

GUARDING AND KEEPING YOUR HEART

Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life. Proverbs 4:23

God designed us with a "control center" that He calls the "heart." It's the place where we know God and from which life issues come.

Solomon's warning is clear and simple. We need to guard our hearts. The issues that determine whether we live free or enslaved to some habit begin as heart issues. Ultimately, we are responsible for the decisions that begin in this "control center" called the "heart."

Jesus made that clear in His teachings. Check out Matthew 5:21-30 where He says that murder and adultery begin in the heart. Then later in Matthew (15:11-20), He lets us know that the things that come out of our mouths that defile us begin in our hearts (vs. 18).

Your heart and my heart need guarding. We have the responsibility to do that guarding. Steve Green sings a song titled "Guard Your Heart." He sings of wrecked homes and hearts torn in two when hearts go unguarded. Some of us who read Freedom Fighter understand those lyrics. We know the pain that comes from choosing to not guard our hearts.

We each have to choose to guard that "control center" of our lives from which come the issues of life. How do we do that? Maybe choice is the key word.

First, we have to choose to obey the Word of God that tells us "keep our heart with all diligence." Once we've made the choice, then we have to go to work on the diligence issue. The world in which we live doesn't give us an opportunity to let down our guard. As soon as we do, we'll discover temptation waiting to take over.

A man in my church has struggled in the past with pornography and impure thought issues. He has overcome those attacks. Just recently he told me that he "prays on the armor of God" (Ephesians 6:10-17) each morning before he finishes his quiet time. He has also asked me to hold him accountable in this area of his life.

You can guard your heart. It's a matter of choice. And you'll probably want someone you trust to help you. I have three men who get a report every week on my computer usage. Simply put, they help me guard my heart.

Don't forget: your heart is worth guarding! (Pastor John Strain -- First Baptist of Toms River)

Have a blessed Lord's day, my friend.