Proverbs 4:23 – 27 (NIV)
“Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
These days are far different from when I was a child. Maybe I just see it more as an adult, but the decline in morality and the decay in people’s lives seems to be more severe and more rampant than ever before. What used to be whispered in dark shadows now prances down main street. I watch. I watch how so many fall into patterns and paths of destruction. It doesn’t take much. I am amazed at how easy it is to fall into bondage to just about anything, and how disciplined one must be to avoid it.
A simple invitation to drink can result in a lifetime struggle for sobriety. A passing glance can result in an obsession that is not easily quenched. An easy steal can result in an insatiable desire to see what else we can get away with. It all starts with the simplest of things. The devil is no dummy in this regard. He knows that if he shows us the end result, we’ll never bite… but the smallest step and immediate satisfaction lulls us to sleep as we fall further into bondage. You’ve heard of the frog in the pot that is slowly brought to boil? You remember the serpent in the garden coercing Eve to just eat?
My childhood pastor would say “Sin will take you further than you want to go, it will make you stay longer than you want to stay, and it will make you pay more than you want to pay.” He would also say that you can choose sin, but you cannot choose the consequences of that sin. We must be on guard. We belong to Christ. Satan has no good intentions toward us. If he cannot destroy us physically he will do his best to destroy our testimony and our ability to live for Christ in this world. So we must be on guard. Steve Green has a song “Guard your heart”… the words in the chorus are:
“Guard your heart, guard your heart
Don’t trade it for treasure, don’t give it away
Guard your heart, guard your heart
As a payment for pleasure, it’s a high price to pay
For a soul that remains sincere with a conscience clear
Guard your heart.”
I bet that “apple” didn’t taste quite so good to Adam and Eve when they realized what they lost. In the end, Christ would sacrifice Himself to restore our relationship with God. There is no sin that doesn’t have a cost sooner or later… don’t fall into the trap. Stay on the good path. You will be glad you did.
“Guard Your Heart” by Steve Green. Written by Jon Mohr in 1989.