Guard Your Heart

            Have you had your Joy Juice today?  When we guard our heart, there is more room for true joy.

            I’ve heard & read the verse in Proverbs 4:23 literally hundreds of times. But it seems lately it has taken on new depth and personal meaning. “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.”

                We tend to guard things of value, don’t we?

·         Many of us have alarm systems on our homes so our house will be guarded at all times….even when we are not there.

·         We guard our children by keeping close watch on them when we take them somewhere like an amusement park or even to the playground.

·         Hotels and other large buildings put safety locks on their outside doors so that only those with proper access may enter.

·         Banks guard the money.

·         And schools have a big responsibility of guarding their students at all times. 

                Why do we guard these things, these special people?  Because they are valuable to us.

 Prison guards keep a watchful eye on the inmates because not doing so may result in danger.  So it is with our hearts!  God values our heart and he knows that if it’s not guarded, danger can occur….bad choices, ungodly decisions, even busyness that distracts us from true joy in relationship with Him.

                May our prayer be for God to help us guard our hearts against anything that leads us away from His joy.