Skip to main content

Guard your Heart



            Joseph’s father said, “Go and see if all is well with your brothers and with the flocks, and bring word back to me… [when his brothers] saw him in the distance, and before he reached them, they plotted to kill him” (Genesis 37:14 and 18).
            That seems strange, doesn’t it?  They see their youngest brother coming and say, “Let’s kill him!”  This, however, was not a spur of the moment thing.  In fact, his brothers were mad at and jealous of Joseph for a long time, because he was their father’s favorite.  Genesis 37:4 states that, “They [his brothers] hated him and could not speak a kind word to him”. 
            On top of that, Joseph had some dreams that suggested that he was going to rule over his brothers one day.  As you can imagine, telling his brothers about those dreams did not help his popularity.  Joseph’s brothers thought about getting rid of him long before they took any action.
            So why am I telling you this story?  Simply because sin always works that way!
            Sin is always the outcome of what we have allowed ourselves to think about.  That is why we have passages like this:  “Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry. Because of these, the wrath of God is coming. You used to walk in these ways, in the life you once lived.  But now you must also rid yourselves of all such things as these: anger, rage, malice, slander, and filthy language from your lips.  Do not lie to each other, since you have taken off your old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge in the image of its Creator” (Colossians 3:5-10).
            If we harbour bad thoughts and feelings, they will grow until they come out in some regrettable action.  In fact, those emotions will take up so much room in our lives that they will start to crowd out everything else.   Things like peace, joy, love and hope have no place in us if we do not continually weed out the bad stuff first.
            So maybe it is time to give up your grudges.  Get rid of your list of hurts.  Let go of jealously, worry, envy, anger, disappointment and guilt.  Toss those things before they get a foothold in your life and ruin everything else. 
            Sin always comes from paths that we have walked a thousand times in our minds.  Maybe it is time to walk a new path.
            “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it” (Proverbs 4:23).

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Art of Noticing.... Seeing what we need to see and what we miss when we don't

 What we focus on in life matters. Here are some scriptural reminders that will help us see correctly.  https://youtu.be/Rn76tV0ZH8s    
Post a Comment
Read more

New Article: A Path Worth Following

  Jehoram was a terrible king.  He reigned in Judah around the year 850 B.C. and he did not care about God or his people.  His first act as king was to assassinate his six brothers so that no one could challenge his authority.  He was brutal and selfish.   Therefore, when the Bible sums up his life, it says, “Jehoram… passed away, to no one’s regret, and was buried in the City of David” (2 Chronicles 21:20).  Did you catch that?  “To no one’s regret!”  What a terrible phrase for your tombstone. On the other hand, consider a lady named Tabitha.  She lived in the city of Joppa in the first century A.D. and we are told, “… she was always doing good and helping the poor” (Acts 9:36).  She became sick and died.  This caused the community so much grief that they called Peter, who was in the nearby town of Lydda, to come and help them.  When Peter arrived, a crowd gathered, bringing all the robes and other clothing that ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Consider This.... Which Way Are You Leaning?

   When Ben Patterson agreed to join three friends climbing Mount Lyell, the highest point in Yosemite National Park, he did not realize what he was signing up for.  Early in the day, it became clear that he was completely unprepared for the task.  In an effort to keep up with his more experienced friends, Ben took a shortcut.  It did not occur to him that there might be a reason the others had not selected this route, but he soon found out why.  Ben became stuck on the glacier.  He could not move up, down or sideways and one wrong move would send him sliding down a forty-five-degree slope to the valley floor miles below.   That is when one of his friends came to the rescue. His buddy leaned over the edge and carved some footholds in the ice.  He told Ben to step to the first foothold and immediately swing his other foot to the second, then his buddy would pull him to safety.  Lastly, his friend gave him one more piece of advice....
Post a Comment
Read more