Guard Your Heart and Mind

By Fatoki Ifeoluwa

Devotional Reading: Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. – Proverbs 4:23 NLT

One of the very important things in life is not just how to win, but how to continue in victory. However, as believers, while God has guaranteed and given us victory in Christ Jesus, living out our victory has demands on us. The first demand that we would consider is to guard our heart.

In Proverbs 23:7, Scripture establishes that a man is just as he thinks in his heart. What makes up a man is not what appears on the outside, but the thoughts that go on inside, which are unseen to another man. In fact, while what a man does is important, what he thinks is more important. The issue becomes more important because while men applaud what we do, God considers our motives alongside.

In Jeremiah 17:9-10, the heart is described as deceitful and desperately sick. However, God has a remedy because in the new birth, He gives us new hearts. But like a new slate, we determine what fills up our hearts. Sadly, we live in times when we are surrounded with influences that target our hearts. While they appear harmless, the goal is to infiltrate our hearts and thoughts.

How then do we guard our hearts? The Psalmist admonishes us to treasure God’s Word in our hearts (Psalm 119:11). We can guard our hearts with God’s Word. We must seek it, read it and study it. We must memorise and meditate on it. Also, we must speak it. If we do these things, with God enthroned on our hearts, there would be no space for corrupting influences.

Prayer and Confession
Father, thank You for giving me a new heart at conversion. I receive Grace to meditate on Your Word always, amen.

Further Reading: Psalm 119:1-8