What Are You Allowing into Your Space?
Proverbs 4:23 is such a powerful passage; it conveys a vital principle that’ll determine the very course of your life! It says: “Above all else guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” The preface “above all else” indicates that guarding your heart is of the utmost importance and therefore you need to make it a top priority in your life. Your heart is the core of your mind. Things get rooted in your heart based on your thought life and ideas and desires or fears you choose to meditate on. This is why we should be very careful what we choose to think about-impulses, inclinations, worries, desires, fears, etc.—because what you decide to dwell on in your mind will run your very life! Wow, now that is powerful!
The word “wellspring” means “source” or “geographical boundaries.” In other words, whatever you allow to occupy your heart—your thought life—ends up being the source of your very life and determines your geographical boundaries; that is, how far you go or how far you don’t go. Put differently, what you allow to get rooted in your heart determines what you will be!
People produce according to what’s in their heart. The human heart is like soil. Just as soil is neutral and grows whatever is planted in it, so is the heart, neutral and grows whatever you allow to get rooted in it. Whether good or bad, productive or destruction, beautiful or hideous, pure or profane.
Philippians 4:8 tells us that, whatever you meditate on inhabits your thought life and will get lodged in your heart. You thus produce accordingly.
Now, don’t get me wrong I am far from perfect. There have been many times when I allowed things into my spirit and I allowed them to grow root and take up residence. I had to come to point of do I allow those roots to continue to take up space in my heart, or do I pull up the roots. Let’s be clear, that was not an easy process, because there was a time when my heart wanted to stay in a place of weeds and thorn bushes.
I found that when I did not guard my heart is when I would feel so empty and when things would take root in my heart that should not have been. Whether it was a negative or ill willed conversation, something I saw on television, a place I visited, or most of the time it was a place I revisited from my past. And when I allowed those things to enter my heart became heavy and burdened. This is why it is so important to guard your heart.
Here are some ways to guard your heart:
Guard your words. Words have power, they really do!
This question is what I ask myself daily. Do I speak the Word of God over my life or do I speak fear, worry and complaints? The power of life and death lies in the tongue. What are you speaking over your life and better yet, what are you allowing to be spoken into your life? Have you lost friends, lied to impress others, or was rude to someone who needed love due to your words? Or have you uplifted someone in need of love by giving words or encouragement and praying for them?
Guard Your Eyes
Stay focused. Look straight ahead. Keep your eyes on what's next for your life. Often times, we forget to keep our eyes on what lies in front of us. We find ourselves comparing our journey to others. Bitterness, frustration and irritation typically is a result of questioning the Lord and His will.
What are we watching? What are we allowing to enter our sights? Reality shows full of drama. Googling our every symptom and ailment? What has our attention the most and what can we do to start to shift what we allow in our visual space? These questions will help us to protect our heart and mind daily.
Guard Your Path
Each step on our path is important. It’s critical that we are wise about how we move forward and our choices. When we are careful about our actions, our life's journey will come together! When we allow the Lord to lead the way, He will keep our steps ordered.
Remember that we all guard our heart with something. Maybe, with fear, anxiety, or walls, that we use to keep ourselves "safe." Let God infiltrate our speech, be a guide for our eyes, and make our paths straight (direct us). I can promise you when you do this, your life will start to fall in place.
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