Guarding Your Heart

The Bible contains so much wisdom and instructions that bring so much joy to our lives if we obey. But we can also suffer so much pain and loss if we reject or neglect the teachings of God as contained in the Bible. Our topic for today is a very important one. It’s about guarding you heart. The world system encourages us to “follow your heart”. We often hear people say, “If it feels good, do it”. One popular song some years ago asked the question, “How can it be wrong when it feels so right?” But God says, “Guard your heart”. Be careful what you allow to enter your mind and form your values. Monitor what is going on inside you and determine that you will allow only what is in line with (or what is not against what God wants) to enter your heart and affect your decisions/choices. Satan is a liar. The unrenewed parts of our being want things that may not be right for us. If we don’t guard our hearts, we can fall into foolish and harmful desires that plunge people into destruction. The sad stories of “following your heart” even though what is pursued is against what God wants is endless: Teen-age pregnancies, sexually-transmitted diseases, children born without a father or growing up without one or both parents (raised by guardians), extra-marital affairs and destruction of families, losing jobs, business failures due to mismanagement or dishonesty, accidents, unnecessary sufferings, and so much more. We don’t want any of those things. Yet they can happen to you and me if we don’t guard our hearts. We are not talking here about not pursuing God-given dreams and desires that are in line with the principles and teachings in the Bible. Those things you and I can and must pursue. Feel free to go after the things God has put into your heart that are for his glory. What we are talking about here is about protecting our hearts from things that are against what God desires for you. These are things that are wrong or unwise (such as developing a romantic relationship with a person who is not a follower of Jesus, or entering into business partnerships with unbelievers where you are inseparably identified with and accountable for the decisions of your unbelieving partners). God wants to be glorified through your life. He also wants what is best you. He does not want your life to be destroyed or fail to reach your destiny. Someone said, “Guard your heart. It is a precious thing that not everyone deserves”. A song that was famous some years ago said, “Guard your heart. As a payment for pleasure, it’s a high price to pay. Guard you heart”. So let’s do it. Let’s protect our hearts.