Guard Your Heart

I was recently asked to name just ONE lesson my father taught me.  I thought about that quite a bit trying to narrow it down to comply to the request.  There are so many things good fathers teach their children. Some of the more important lessons I learned from him include: (1) Personal Responsibility: Each person is ultimately responsible for his/her own actions and outcomes. (2) Choices have consequences. (3) Mistakes made in love are usually forgivable. (4) Joy and Beauty are important in life too. (5) How to drive a stick-shift car ..........

There are many more, but the request was to name ONE.  So I collated, summarized, and decided that many of the lessons are condensed in the lesson of Psalms 4:23.  I don't recall Daddy's ever quoting the scripture in my hearing, but the essence of it guided his life and his guidance of his children.  "Above all else guard your heart for everything you do flows from it."  A pure heart, a loving heart, a thoughtful heart, a heart given into the care of Almighty God will lead one to make decisions that will steer the course of one's life away from the rocky shoals and into the deep waters and smooth sailing in life.

Every kink, turn, and twist in a person's life-line (good or bad) starts with a first step; therefore, I should always consider my steps to be sure they will lead where I want to go. Sometimes, when one is far enough along a route to realize that he/she is lost, the most productive steps will be backward until one can resume going forward on the right course. Innumerable passions in life wait for an opportunity to enter my heart. lead me down wrong paths, and distract me from my purpose in life: so I must remain vigilant so that each step I take in life is guided by a heart that has been given to God, nourished in His word and guarded from evil.