Guard Your Heart
Valentine’s Day fell on a Sunday in 1982, and Friday night was inconvenient for family travelling from far away. So we were married on Saturday, February 13.
Yesterday would have been our 40th anniversary. We were married 37 years when he was called Home almost three years ago. It is that last anniversary I cherish the most, although at the time neither of us knew it would be our last.
We didn’t celebrate on the 13th that year, but waited till the next day, when Ian had to take the car into the shop for some work. He dropped me off at the church, where some of us ladies were cleaning, and doing other odd jobs. A friend had invited us over to her place for lunch, where Ian would meet us after getting the car and running some errands.
When Ian came, he brought with him a little container with three Valentine cheesecakes in different flavours. He let us ladies take our choice, while he took what was left. It surprised and delighted both my friend and me. It was only a small gesture, yet it gave all three of us pleasure, and added a festive touch to the little meal.
That small gesture was typical of Ian, who often found ways to add to others’ lives. And the beauty is, he didn’t even realize how much he meant to so many of us.
I am truly blessed to have had Ian, such a quiet, unassuming, treasure of a man, as my husband for 37 years. He was the “king of my heart,” and I was his queen.
But there is One who is the King of my heart – King with a capital “K.” He is far and above any family member or friend He has blessed me with. And in His Word, He tells me to keep (guard) my heart with all diligence against anyone or anything that can come between us.
Proverbs 4:23-27
23 Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.
24 Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee.
25 Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee.
26 Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established.
27 Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil.
Notice how it begins with the HEART, and goes from there to the MOUTH, the EYES, and the FEET. In the words of John MacArthur:
“The ‘heart’ commonly refers to the mind as the center of thinking and reason (Proverbs 3:3; 6:21; 7:3), but also includes the emotions (15:15,30), the will (11:20; 14;14), and thus, the whole inner being (3:5). The heart is the depository of all wisdom and the source of whatever affects speech (4:24), sight (4:25), and conduct (Proverbs 4:26-27)”
If we say we love the Lord, but our words and actions don’t show it, something is amiss. At worst, we don’t belong to Him at all; at best, we are not guarding our hearts diligently. I include myself in that, because guarding the heart is a day by day, moment by moment thing, and I often let it slip.
As Oswald Chambers put it:
“Because I have listened definitely to God on one thing, it does not follow that I listen to everything He says.”
It’s not that I refuse to listen, but I get caught up with other things – service, convictions, things, the cares of this world – and I don’t hear God.
Ian’s sister sang a beautiful song at our wedding on that long ago day, which reminds me even now of the faithfulness of God’s love, despite my many failings. This is a lovely rendition of the song, by the Chelmsford Citadel Songsters.
“Perverse and foolish oft I strayed, But yet in love He sought me
And on His should gently laid, And home rejoicing brought me.”
May we think of these words, and remember them, and guard our hearts for Him and Him alone, now and each day of our lives.