GUARD YOUR HEART

We live in a heart healthy world. Maybe it would be more accurate to say that we hear a lot about being heart healthy. We definitely hear that term used often in commercials and printed on products. The truth is that we probably aren't as heart healthy as we need to be, and that is why it is such a big selling point.

While I think it's great to be healthy and to take care of the "temple" that God has given you, I also wonder what would happen if we gave just as much attention to the "heart" that the Bible talks about as we do the physical heart. I think that our lives would reflect the fruit of the Spirit more. I think that we would live with Godly character in every situation.

Proverbs 4:23 says, "Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life." (NLT) The word "heart" simply means your inner man, your mind, your understanding, and your will. So God is instucting us to guard our inner man, mind understanding, and even our will. Wow! What a powerful verse when you think about it.

The NKJV says it this way, "Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." What the Bible is saying here is that the heart is where you make your decisions. It is where you determine your pursuits and the things you focus on. Knowing that is just the beginning. What's even more important is that God instructs us to guard our hearts.

FORTIFIED

A few years ago, my family and I visited Castilo de San Marcus in St. Augustine, Florida. it is a fort that was built in the 17th century that sits fight along the water's edge in downtown St. Augustine. It holds hundreds of years of history, but it also taught me something about "guarding." While the fort itself was obviously designed to keep unwanted things out, there is a space inside the fort that was specifically designed to keep things in. Prisoners to be exact. So, as we talk about guarding our hearts, in this issue, we will look at the things that we need to keep in, and next time we will focus on what we need to guard against.

Voice of the Covenant by Corey Naquin