Quiet Moments with God

Day 4: Proverbs 4:17, 23

They do evil just as easily as they eat food. They hurt others as easily as they drink wine.

Above everything else, guard your heart. It is where your life comes from.

So many verses in this chapter spoke to me, but these were the two that the Holy Spirit kept bringing me back to over and over.

As I read verse 17 over and over, I could not help but ask myself, "Linda, do you do good just as easily as you eat food? Do you love others as easily as you drink sweet tea (since I don't drink wine!)  This was very convicting. I want to say absolutely yes I do, but the reality is I often fail. Sometimes, more than I want to admit, I have to work really hard at doing good and loving others. My first instincts are not always those that would be pleasing to God. I have to work hard at not giving into first instincts. I don't want to give in and I don't want it to be so hard. I want to be so close to God that His ways are my first instincts.

Then it dawned on me (ha dawned on me, right, love how the Holy Spirit connects seemingly unconnected thoughts!) that if I want His ways to be my first instincts that verse 23 gives me the formula - guard my heart. It is where my life comes from. Guarding it means to protect it. Protect it from the things that will rip it away or slowly tear it away from God. Protect it from the evil of this world, from the darkness of this world. I need to protect it from things that are seemingly good but take my focus away from God and the things that He wants for me.