Above all else, guard your heart, for it affects everything you do. Proverbs 4:23
Well, obviously, that’s not the only thing we need to guard. We must also guard our gardens! Clearly, our hearts are the most important things we must guard, as the scriptures say as a mirror reflects a man’s face, a man’s heart reflects the man. Ouch! But, gardens rank up there pretty high in the guarding group.
Gardens are important, we need them for a couple of reasons. The obvious reason is because we need to eat. Sure, we could pick up some tomatoes, cucumbers, peppers, squash, and other produce from the market, but there really is something super cool about tending a garden whether it be a flower garden or food for your table. Those things we grow ourselves look more beautiful and taste much better.
But what happens when an unwelcome guest shows up in our gardens? We’ve had one of those guests in our garden at least three times this year. I know this because this is the number of times that Tony has replanted. Before each replant, we have to add more protection.
As we were adding one more layer to our fencing the other night, I kept thinking about the lengths we’re going to to protect our garden, as well we should. It’s an irksome battle against wild kingdom. Looking at the chicken wire, colored strings, whirly gigs and sparkly decorations that move in the breeze, all saying KEEP OUT, I thought to myself, goodness, just how high are we going to have to make this fence in order to keep our unwanted guest out?
As I stand there pondering, trying to conjure up other defenses, the thought struck me that those layers of protection served two purposes – to keep something in and to keep something out — to protect something inside the fence and to keep something destructive outside the fence. Hmmm…
Should I not also do the same for my heart? Do you see the parallel? Things in our lives can penetrate our hearts and destroy them – the consequences of poor choices by ourselves or others – the pride of thinking we can do all things through us who strengthens ourselves – allowing those things of the world to enter into our hearts and take root – compromising on the little things – opening the gate just a crack to only have it slammed wide open to the flood of destruction. You get what I mean, right? As I look at the garden, I think goodness, if I guarded my heart the way I’m guarding the garden, what would my life look like? If I added some of the protections and defenses to my heart that have been added to the garden, would my life look different? I think most definitely.
We live in such a deceptive world. The evil one prowls about looking for someone to devour. He has a special eye for those who have a heart for the Lord. Why so? Because those who belong to the Lord have something that satan wants – a heart for God. The evil one is not seeking those who don’t believe or follow Christ – he already has their hearts. The evil one is seeking to turn hearts for God to himself. If we are not guarding our hearts, in broad daylight and hushed nightlight, he will leap our barriers and devour our hearts. Yikes!
The evil one is quite wily. Just like I felt sorry for our unwanted guest and wasn’t too concerned about her hanging around more and more frequently after all she had babies to feed, satan preys on our emotions as well with the things of this world. Loving people will obviously feel compassion for a self-destructing world, but it doesn’t mean that we let down the guards on our hearts. We must lean in to God and allow the Holy Spirit to fuel us with strength. We must put on the full armor of God – the first two pieces are the study belt of truth – we must know the truth – and the body armor of God’s righteousness – the body armor is the barrier that protects our hearts!
We must use the resources the Lord gave us – chicken wire, colored strings, whirly gigs and sparkly decorations – the Word of God, Prayer, the Holy Spirit, Christian friends, and a Biblical Church family. All these things will keep out those things that are destructive to our hearts. We are not to go it alone, we must use all the defenses the Lord provided to us in this battle for our hearts.
But the Lord is faithful; he will make you strong and guard you from the evil one. 2 Thessalonians 3:3
Think a little today about your heart. What’s the condition of the fence around it? Is it keeping out evil or does it need to be fortified?
May the Lord bring you into an ever deeper understanding of the love of God and the endurance that comes from Christ. 2 Thessalonians 3:5