On Guard! Guard your Gates

My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. Proverbs 4:20-27

When I have the time, I love watching the Olympics because I get to see sports I do not normally follow. There is one sport that amazes me and confuses me all at the same time. The sport of Fencing. Two people face each other with one of three types of sword: épée, foil, or sabre.

Fencing traces its roots to the development of swordsmanship for duels and self-defence. It then moved to a form of military training, it then moved to a sport in either the 14th or 15th century. Italy, Spain and Germany lay claim to its origins, with German fencing masters organising the first guilds in the 15th century, the most notable being the Marxbruder of Frankfurt, formed in 1478.

A Fencing bout starts with the referee calling out 'En-garde' which is French for 'on guard', to signify to the fencers that they should get into positions and be ready.

Fencing aims to score a technical fatal strike to the chest that is, in effect, piercing the opponent's heart. Therefore each competitor must try to attack the opponent but at the same time, it is key to defend their own ‘heart’.

King Solomon writing at the beginning of Proverbs says: Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Just like in Fencing, it is our responsibility to guard our hearts. We have a part to play in defending ourselves. There are some things we can do to assist in the guarding of our hearts. There are a number of ways we can influence our hearts either for the good or for the worse.

The image I like to use is the image of city gates. Jerusalem is a walled city the walls are defensive. The way into the heart of it is through the many gates. Nehemiah not only rebuild the walls but he saw it key to restore the city’s gates. In that way, no one without permission could gain access to the city.

We all have several gates in our lives that we need to ensure are securely in place so that our hearts remain guarded:

The Ear Gate: Prov 4:20 My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart. I am an auditory learner. What I hear I tend to remember better than what I read. Therefore our ears have access to our hearts too. What we chose to listen to really does make a difference to the condition of our hearts. When I listen to the Bible being read I find myself in a better frame of mind and heart. What kind of music do you listen to? If you are not sure read the lyrics. Fill your ears with music that positively feeds your heart – I listen to worship music all day. Worship really does change the attitude of your heart.

Paul also warned people to guard their ears because it affects what we believe. 2Tim4:3 For the time will come when people will not put up with sound doctrine. Instead, to suit their own desires, they will gather round them a great number of teachers to say what their itching ears want to hear.

The Eye Gate: Proverbs 4:25 Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. What we look at and therefore focus on has direct access to our memory as you can’t unsee what you have seen and our hearts as we may start to want that which we see. Envy, greed, lust and coveting often find their starting point from the eye. Proverbs 4:25 Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Horses have ‘blinkers to help them to stop getting scared or distracted by something that they see. The same is with us. Look straight ahead.

In this age of the internet and screens, be careful what you allow through your eyes. Job 31:3 I made a covenant with my eyes not to look lustfully at a young woman.

Instead of all these things, use your eyes to look: 1) to God’s word: turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; and; 2) to the example of Jesus Heb 12:2-3 let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

Jesus says your eyes direct the treasure your heart seeks: Matt 6:21-23 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. “The eye is the lamp of the body. If your eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light. But if your eyes are unhealthy, your whole body will be full of darkness. If then the light within you is darkness, how great is that darkness!

The Feet Gate: Prov 4:27 Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil. Where we allow our feet to go is where we will end up. There is much said in proverbs about guarding the paths of your feet. This is practical holiness. If you have a problem with giving in to sinful ways when you are around someone or in a certain place, the answer is simple DON’T GO THERE, stop that relationship, perhaps even remove yourself from a particular social group until you are strong enough to be a positive influence instead of them influencing you. . Walk in the opposite direction, that is what exactly what repentance means.

The Mouth Gate: Prv 4:24 Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. There I a true saying: You can’t unsay what you have said. Ephesians 4:29 Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen. Become more aware of the way you talk about people and the language you use. Guard what you say. Proverbs 10:11 The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, but the mouth of the wicked conceals violence. Hatred stirs up conflict, but love covers over all wrongs. Wisdom is found on the lips of the discerning, but a rod is for the back of one who has no sense. The wise store up knowledge, but the mouth of a fool invites ruin.

James has a lot to say about the mouth gate: (James 1:26) Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless. Especially in chapter 3 (James 3:3-6) Likewise, the tongue is a small part of the body, but it makes great boasts. Consider what a great forest is set on fire by a small spark. The tongue also is a fire, a world of evil among the parts of the body. It corrupts the whole body, sets the whole course of one’s life on fire, and is itself set on fire by hell.

Let us stand in active guard of what comes out of our mouths. Psalm 141 says: Set a guard over my mouth, O LORD; keep watch over the door of my lips. Let not my heart be drawn to what is evil.

The Mind Gate: (Prov 4:26) Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Our mind is the theatre of our imagination. Our mind influences our heart and also our heart influences our mind and therefore influences our decisions. Phil 4:8 Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.

We have a part to play in what we do with what we think about. 2 Cor 10:5 We demolish arguments and every pretension that sets itself up against the knowledge of God, and we take captive every thought to make it obedient to Christ. Take every thought captive – in and through Christ you can be in charge of your mind. Romans 12:2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.

When we stand ‘on guard’ of our city gates we have a great possibility of enjoying the peace of the King dwelling in the city of our heart and the heart of our city. Philippians 4:6-7 in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

May you stand guard ready for whatever is thrown at you. Don’t give in but know that Christ in you can overcome the work of the evil one that is aimed against you. You will find life and health: My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body.

Have a blessed and safe week.

Blessings

Fraser