Guard My Heart
As I’ve been studying David’s life and discovering many wonderful attributes about his character it was sad to read the story of his downfall with Bathsheba today. It was also a reminder of how human any of us can be.
Having just read about his compassion and grace to Jonathan’s son and to the men who delivered a kind message to Hanun, I thought how nice it was to see those characteristics in action. It also gave me reminders to have that same grace and compassion in my own life towards others.
Today’s reminder from my studies was that as a person after God’s own heart we need to guard our heart. Proverbs 4:23 instructs us, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”
David began to get comfortable in his position and power and started to believe that he could have anything he wanted and do anything he wanted. I know at times I have justified my actions when I should have been on guard of the enemies subtle attempts to draw me into sin.
Like David I’ve let me guard down and listened to a lying heart. The results are never good and thankfully, unlike David, they are not penned in the pages of history for all to read.
Guarding our hearts can be done with a simple phrase that we all have heard, “What would Jesus do?” Each morning I invite Him into my day and I try to imagine Him sitting right beside me. That is until I want to do something that I wouldn’t do in front of Him.
Perhaps its’s a conversation that includes some juicy gossip or an joke that is a bit inappropriate. Maybe it’s an act of justifying a shopping spree or watching a racy movie or TV show or even having a drink just to take the edge off. Whatever our weaknesses are, we can be reminded about the need to guard ourselves from David’s example.
In a single moment our lives can be drastically changed by letting our guard down. One of the gifts of the spirit is self control and that means that we have the ability to use it.
My heart goes out to David. I’m thankful for both the good and bad examples of his life. There are so many lessons to be learned and I know the feeling of telling my son to learn from my mistakes; don’t repeat them.
My Prayer
Father, please forgive me when I’ve chosen to follow wrong desires. Your word says to guard my heart and I pray that I will choose to listen to Your Holy Spirit and apply self control. Thank you for the many lessons in Your word and help me to learn from them rather than repeat them. In Jesus’ name, amen.
Where does my help come from?
Proverbs 4:23
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”