Guard Your Heart

Proverbs 4:23 "Guard your heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it." ~ GWT

I was talking to my friend Ames the yesterday and was informed that this is the verse of the week, so I figured I'm spend a little time blogging about my thoughts and this verse. However, I don't think that we can take this verse out of context, so below is a little longer excert:

Proverbs 4:20-27

"My Son, pay attention to my words. Open your ears to what I say. Do not lose sight of these things. Keep them deep within your heart because they are life to those who find them and they heal the whole body. Guard you heart more than anything else, because the source of your life flows from it. Remove dishonesty from your mouth. Put deceptive speech far away from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead and your sign be focused in front of you. Carefully walk a straight path and all your ways will be secure. Do not lean to the right or to the left. Walk away from evil." ~God's Word Translation

Many times simply verse 23 is used when talking about relationships, especially with the opposite sex, and when taken out of context, it seems to make sense. However, when you look at what God is saying around that verse, it's not talking about our relationships with the opposite sex as much as it's talking about guarding out heart from the misconceptions that Satan would have us believe about life, love, the world and even more so, our FATHER, GOD! God is wanting us to keep our eyes focused on Him, the one who gives us true life and love eternal. He's warning us against falsehoods that Satan would try and have us believe. As we trust in God, the promises that He has made for us will give us life eternal, which is where life flows from: the promises of God.

Now, I'm not saying that this doesn't have to do with relationships, because Satan will work in those around us to try and sway us away from the love of our heavenly Father. Satan will tell us lies and make us believe falsehoods about ourselves and those whom we encouter in our lives to make us feel inadequate or completely the opposite, better than those around us.

But that's not what God intends. God is calling us to guard our hearts because He has given us the gift of salvation and He doesn't want for us to be swayed by deceit away from that belief. He wants us to focus on the goal: Life eternal with the Holy Trinity.

So my dear friends, guard your hearts that you never loose site of God's eternal plan for you. However, don't miss out on the earthly opportunities God puts before you because you don't know what is in store for you in relationships. God gave you free will, and unless you take some chances the bench will always be warm. Sometimes God calls us to take risks that are a little scary and we're putting ourselves out there. Never compromise your relationship with your Heavenly Father, and don't miss out on something great because it might mean a broken romantic heart. God can always heal our pain in relationships, He's got the best band-aids ever! As long as your eyes are always focused on the ultimate goal of life with Him, a little brokenness will only bring us closer to Him.