Serving our Father God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Holy Spirit filled ministry since 1997!
Serving our Father God and our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ in Holy Spirit filled ministry since 1997!
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 (NIV)
Gates are a vital element for any property owner or occupant. They help protect the property from potential intrusions and intruders. Without them, a property is subject to all sorts of unwelcome guests and trespassers.
Just as gates are important in the natural world, so they are in the spiritual realm. Today’s devotional scripture admonishes us to guard our hearts with all diligence, for out of it flows the issues of life. The word “guard” comes from the Hebrew word “nasar” (H. 5341), which means to watch, observe, to be kept close, be blockaded, or a watchman. The remaining verses in this passage instruct us to:
24 Keep your mouth free of perversity;
keep corrupt talk far from your lips.
25 Let your eyes look straight ahead;
fix your gaze directly before you.
26 Give careful thought to the paths for your feet
and be steadfast in all your ways.
27 Do not turn to the right or the left;
keep your foot from evil.
These verses remind me of a song that I taught my Vacation Bible School children’s class. The words are similar instructions:
Oh, be careful, little eyes, what you see.
Oh, be careful, little ears, what you hear.
Oh, be careful, little hands, what you do.
Oh, be careful, little feet, where you go.
There’s a Father up above looking down in tender love.
This song is definitely a resource for cautioning little ones to “guard” their gates from the temptations that they might encounter on their daily journeys.
Likewise, as adults, we must apply this important principle to our daily lives. We are consistently bombarded with a gamut of distractions, temptations, and other idle or mindless activities that compete for our attention. With all the social media platforms, and now the new AI technology, that are everywhere, we must aggressively and intentionally guard our gates more than ever before.
Our focal verse reminds us that everything we do flows from our hearts. Simply put, what goes in will come out. Trespassers constantly attempt to invade our hearts through the gates of our eyes, ears, mouths, hands, or feet. In 1 Timothy 1:14, the Apostle Paul admonished his spiritual son, Timothy, to guard the good deposit that was entrusted to him and to guard it with the help of the Holy Spirit who lives in us. Similarly, with the Holy Spirit’s help, God has assigned us to be on guard and stand against the schemes of our enemies.
To succeed in our assignment, will we intentionally commit to conducting a prayerful evaluation of the entertainment and/or other activities we participate in to identify potential risks of offensive, perverse, or unprofitable intruders infiltrating the gates of our heart? Will we be dutiful gatekeepers and close our gates to any ill-advised habits, entertainment, or activities, and avoid admitting unwelcome “issues” into our lives? Say, “YES,” and guard your gates!
Minister Ta-Tanisha Henry, affectionately known as “Sis. Ta,” was born and raised in San Francisco, California. She is a member of Destiny Christian Fellowship in Fremont, CA. She is intricately involved in her church’s ministries, including the Ministerial Alliance Team, Praise & Worship Team, Voices of Destiny Choir, and Women of Destiny, to name a few. Minister Ta has an intense, red-hot love for God and His people. Her ultimate and sole desire is to share God’s word and His love with all people and see lives transformed and healed by the power of the Holy Spirit.
