“‘Above all else, guard your heart’ (Prov. 4:23)… It doesn’t say guard your heart because it’s criminal; it says guard your heart because it is the wellspring of your life, because it is a treasure, because everything else depends on it. How kind of God to give us this warning, like someone’s entrusting to a friend something precious to him, with the words: ‘Be careful with this—it means a lot to me.'”

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“Above all else? Good grief—we don’t even do it once in a while. We might as well leave our life savings on the seat of the car with the windows rolled down—we’re that careless with our hearts…”

~ John Eldredge, Waking the Dead

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Do you guard your heart? Or are you careless with it? Do you flippantly throw it around like a beach ball on a summer day to whomever will catch it? Or do you guard it so diligently that no one else is ever able to penetrate it? All good questions to ponder.

The heart is a funny thing.  It needs to love others in order to remain strong and alive, but it’s so fragile it may be deeply wounded, broken in two, or completely shattered.   We must treasure our heart as the wellspring of life and as the place within us, as God’s followers, that His Spirit dwells and out of which His love, compassion, and mercy flow.

Your heart is important to God, and it should be important to you.  Guard it carefully, engage it often, and when it is broken or shattered, know that God is there to mend it.

The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit. Psalm 34:18 ESV

He heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds. Psalm 147:3 ESV

 

Oh, and if you haven’t read Waking the Dead, or haven’t read it in a while, read it!

Make Today Count!
Mary