Affection Sets Direction

SCRIPTURE: Pro. 4:23 Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.

OBSERVATION: This verse points out one of the most important truths anyone can ever understand; our deepest affections set the direction of our lives. We must guard our hearts because if our hearts get attached to the wrong thing or the wrong person we put ourselves on the road to destruction.

The only way to really guard our heart is to give it first, before the temptation comes, to God Himself--to love Him with all we are, and to be very aware when that love is being supplanted. That is when the danger comes.

APPLICATION/CONFESSION: There are so many things that battle for my deepest affections--pleasure, hobbies, entertainment--I can, and will, enjoy them but I can never forget danger of letting them "take my heart", to take God's place at the center of my affections. It is then they become an idol to me and it is then that I am on a dangerous course.

PRAYER: Seal my heart Lord for you. I want to love only you. I want my heart to be given only to you. Not only is this right because you deserve it--you have won my heart, but it is also the only safe direction to go.