Guard Your Heart by Petra Pierre-Robertson

Above all else, guard your heart... (Proverbs 4:23)





 I had dumped my fake fruits in water. They were dusty. I didn't have the time to wipe them off one by one so I dumped them in a bowl of water. An easy way to clean them. Big mistake. When i returned to them one hour later I found the pear full of water. I examined it closely. There was no visible hole. So how did the water get in? And how did it happen so fast? I turned it in all directions to see if a leak would alert me to a hole or crack. I could not locate one. The pear looked perfect on the outside. But it was clear that cracks existed that were almost invisible to the natural eye. I shook it up. The water did not budge. I deposited the pear in a container hoping the water would drain out. Now, fifteen hours later I was still waiting for the water to drain out completely. It was so easy to get in. Now getting it out was hard.


Perfect on the outside

The analogy came instantly to mind. So many things easily creep into our minds crippling us, ruining our self esteem and contributing to mental and emotional stress. Like the water infiltrated the pear, negative comments, gossip, unforgiveness, wrong perceptions, unhealthy relationships, and negative influences through various electronic, social and human media infiltrate our minds. They seep in, settle and we struggle to get them out.


We struggle to get them out

It is little wonder that we are cautioned to armour up (Ephesians 6:11-18) and attend to our spirituality (Romans 8), so we may maintain the mind of Christ (Philippians 2:5). We are to feed our minds on things that are true, noble, just, pure, lovely, honest and good (Philippians 4:8). We are advised to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17) and hide God' s word in our heart (Psalm 119:11) in our battle with ourselves. We are told to guard our heart and mind (Proverbs 4:23). The enemy is always seeking an entrace to implant. Once implanted eradication is difficult.


Guard your heart/mind

More than 48 hours later water was still slowly seeping out of the pear. It took less than an hour to fill but more than a day to empty. May we guard our inner selves (Proverbs 4:23) so infiltration does not take place, for when it does it is so difficult to get it out.

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