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"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it." (Proverbs 4:23 NIV)
Sienna my Yorkshire Terrier’s had a lump which was growing. Thinking it was an infected sebaceous cyst, which are common in older dogs, I made an appointment, with the veterinarian, to have it checked.
At the clinic they took Sienna into the examination room to ascertain just what they were dealing with. A short time later the technician appeared with Sienna, and a sealed glass test tube. Inside the tube was a Botfly larvae, a little over half an inch long. A Botfly had planted an egg on Sienna, where she must have had a tiny nick in her skin. The egg hatched and burrowed further under her skin where it proceeded to grow, making Sienna very uncomfortable as it ate into her flesh and moved about. Left untreated the larvae would have continued to grow until it burst through her skin, a painful process which often results in infection or abscess.
This Botfly episode reminded me of today’s Scripture and the importance of guarding our heart; only allowing what is good and right to dwell within, that which builds us up, for all else corrupts and infects our very way of life. The apostle Mark makes this clear when he pens in chapter 7:20-23 these telling words: "What comes out of a man is what makes him unclean. For from within, out of men’s hearts, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, greed, malice, deceit, lewdness, envy, slander, arrogance and folly. All these evils come from inside and make a man unclean." (NIV)
We must thus, take very seriously Solomon’s words of wisdom to guard our heart, for everything within it eventually flows out of it, godliness as well as ungodliness. How though do we guard our hearts? We guard them by paying attention to what we hear, watch, read and think about. Our actions come from the way we think and when we fill our minds with ungodly influences we also begin to act in ungodly ways. Whereas when our hearts or minds are filled with the things of God, we act with godliness.
Therefore, as the apostle Paul as written in Philippians 4:8, "let us guard our hearts today by filling them not with the ungodly actions, thoughts and words of this world but with whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things." (NIV)
In light of these words of truth, what we will allow to enter into our hearts today, godliness or ungodliness? The choice is ours; may we choose wisely.
Prayer: Thank you, Lord Jesus, that we have the privilege of knowing and meditating upon your Word that our hearts might be filled with all good things, which in turn direct the pathways of our life. In your name we pray. Amen.
Lynne Phipps
Tawatinaw, Alberta, Canada
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