“Guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life” (Proverbs 4:23)

I recently saw a picture of the old Stapleton Airport in Denver. It brought back a lot of memories for me, growing up during middle – high school years in Denver. One of my fondest memories was going with my parents to pick up my grandparents who were flying from California to visit us for the first time after we moved to Colorado. And imagine this: We were able to walk all the way to the gate where their plane landed and welcomed them as they deplaned! Yes, this was still twenty years before 9-11.

You could say that things were a lot different back then. In some ways, we were more free. You didn’t have to have a ticket to roam freely up and down the concourse. Yet, in other ways, we were more at risk. We soon discovered along with the entire world that the closer you get to that plane is where security matters.

Have you ever thought about the lack of security around your heart? In Proverbs 4:23 we read:
“Guard your heart above all else for it determines the course of your life.”

I read this verse and confessed to the Lord that I have let so many things roam freely up and down the concourses and jet-ways around my heart where security matters! Sadly, without security where it matters, I experienced things like shame, regret, betrayal, bitterness, rage, resentment, lies, slander, gossip, and loss of identity. Each of these terrorized my heart.

On September 14, 2001, Billy Graham reflected how all those who boarded those planes three days prior believed they were going to arrive at their intended destination. However, terrorists and evil had altered those plans.

And this passage from Proverbs explains that if we don’t have security around our heart where it matters above all else, then we too will have our course of life redirected.

While many of us would like to go back in time and reconsider security prior to September 11th we simply cannot. I wish I could go back and have better security in place around my heart where it truly matters but I know I cannot.

However, each of us can invite Jesus to rebuild and restore what has been destroyed. We can ask for His help to place security where it matters most and help guard our hearts so that the course of our life is full and abundant. He will answer that prayer.
By the way – He doesn’t send the TSA.

Instead, He sends His Holy Spirit who helps screen our thoughts, actions, and emotions. He constantly scans to see if there is any offensive way in us and He teaches us what to say ‘no’ to and what is ok to allow onto those concourses leading into our hearts.

Prayer
Lord Jesus, You have told us that above all else we should guard our hearts. And we recognize that so many times that we have had lapses in that security, and we have allowed things into our hearts that have truly altered the direction of where You are leading us. We thank You for the forgiveness that You give to us, and we ask that You would continue to redirect us to keep our feet on the path as we follow You. And would You lead us to that destination that You have chosen and created and made for us? We ask this now in Jesus’ name, Amen.