God’s Word is packed full of His truth, wisdom, promises, and prophecy. Everything that He has spoken in His Word has come to pass, and it is no mistake that He tells us about the future. He wants us to know, and most importantly, be prepared for what is to come. We are living in a world where most people do not believe the Bible, but as God’s children, He has handpicked and chosen us to share His love and Word with others. We are required to apply His statues and commandments to our lives and trust in Him totally and completely. We’re to be different because we represent Christ, and in our current times in which we’re now living, we need to shine his light more than ever.
The Apostle Paul tells us in 2Thessalonians 3:2(NLT), “Pray, too, that we will be rescued from wicked and evil people, for not everyone is a believer.” God doesn’t want us to be ignorant of the times in which we’re living. There were wicked and evil people living during Paul’s life, and there are many more wicked and evil people living today. It seems that everywhere we turn, we see and hear corruption, maliciousness, and evil. It’s on the television and in music, and social media is inundated with perverse gossip, talk, and lies. This shouldn’t be news to the believer. Our Heavenly Father warned us in His Word that these things would occur, but even though this is the condition of the world we live in, as God’s children we’re required to filter that stuff out. We’re not to let it touch our hearts.
God commands us in Proverbs 4:23(NLT), “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” To guard your heart is to be watchful regarding what comes in and goes out of it. It’s like being a security guard of your own thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. When you think of a security guard, someone that guards a building might come to mind. In this instance, the guard will diligently man his or her post. They don’t allow any-and-everybody into the establishment, because they’re discerning. A security guard is expected to be attentive and vigilant. They might even carry weapons on their person to make sure that his or her authority is respected. If they see anyone or anything suspicious, they shift to high alert and investigate immediately with the aim of terminating any threat. No one without the appropriate qualifications or requirements enters during a good security guard’s watch.
We must also be mindful of the fact that security guards protect people, things, and places of great value. No one would hire such a person if they don’t have anything valuable to protect. A company or establishment will hire guards because they understand that the value of their property is worthy to be protected. When it comes to our hearts, we should feel exactly the same way, if not more so. We should be even more attentive and watchful than a security guard. Our hearts are extremely valuable to God, and they should be as precious to us as they are to Him. Our discernment, diligence, and attentiveness should be on point when it comes to our hearts, because they are infinitely more valuable than any building.
We owe it to God to be protective of our hearts, because that is the place where our love for Him resides. Jesus Christ teaches us in Mark 7:15(NLT), “It’s not what goes into your body that defiles you; you are defiled by what comes from your heart.” What does he mean by this? During Biblical times, there were laws and traditions about what people could and couldn’t eat, and there were also statutes and rules regarding when they could eat certain foods. If food was eaten in a manner that was outside the parameters of the law, a person would be defiled. To be defiled is to be unclean, and the consequences of being unclean according to the law could be devastating and catastrophic.
Jesus Christ changed everything for us through his ministry, sacrifice, and resurrection. He said in Matthew 5:17 that he didn’t come to the earth to destroy the law; he came to fulfill the law, and by doing this, he did all that God sent him to earth to accomplish. By the shedding of his blood, Jesus Christ ushered in a new covenant between God and us. We are not made righteous by what we eat or drink, we have been made righteous and pure by the blood of the lamb! We are saved because of what Christ accomplished for us and making him the Lord of our lives means we will never see the horror and torment of hell
In Mark 7:15, Jesus makes it plain that it isn’t what we put in our mouths that defiles us, it’s darkness like jealousy, pride, arrogance, envy, doubt, bitterness, resentment, and other sinful heavies that defile us. We must pray and ask God to renew in us a right spirit and give us a new heart! No longer must we allow darkness to have a place of authority in our hearts and minds. It does nothing but keep us from the life and blessings we were meant to have. So, we must be clear that sin defiles us, but salvation and living through Christ makes us whole.
Our Heavenly Father has given each of us the responsibility to guard our lives with His Word. In 1Corinthians 6:19-20(NLT), He tells us, “19 Don’t you realize that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit, who lives in you and was given to you by God? You do not belong to yourself, for God bought you with a high price.20 So you must honor God with your body.” God’s Holy Spirit calls our bodies His personal residence. Our bodies are his temple, and we have a responsibility to keep our hearts and minds pure through His Word. This means filtering out all things that God declares unholy.
God’s Will is for us to put on His Word and allow it to marinate in our hearts and minds. Our minds must match the mind of Christ. Only when we come into alignment with God’s thoughts can we be in alignment with His Will and plan. Then we can expect God to take us higher as we increase in the love of Christ. We can’t do this if we allow a constant flow of negativity in and out of our hearts.
Philippians 4:8(NLT) says “And now, dear brothers and sisters, one final thing. Fix your thoughts on what is true, and honorable, and right, and pure, and lovely, and admirable. Think about things that are excellent and worthy of praise.” We are to reject the behaviors, culture, and traditions of this world and put on the things of God. We must deny the devil access to our minds and hearts, and we must be obedient to guard them as Heavenly Father instructs. God wants to fellowship and commune with us continually, and this is why He wants us to be holy and to be watchful about what we allow in our hearts. He wants us to think about the beautiful things that He thinks about. We’re not perfect, but minute by minute, we are being perfected in Christ. God has empowered us to resist the devil and to rebuke negative thoughts and feelings, and we need to be always praying for greater awareness and watchfulness to do just that. We must protect our hearts because they belong to God, and if we walk by the leadership and guidance of His Spirit, we can keep them holy.■
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy Bible, New Living Translation, copyright © 1996. Used by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton, Illinois 60189. All rights reserved.
“Guard Your Heart”, written by KLizzie, edited by Reverend Fran Mack, for Sundie Morning Sistas ©2022. All rights reserved. All done to the glory of God through Jesus Christ, our Lord! SMS is dedicated to inspiring and encouraging Christian Women through the Word of God.