Dear COA Family,
Proverbs 4:23 tells us, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life. ” (NLT)
I love this translation because it tells us that our lives’ direction and destiny are dependent on our heart – or more specifically, who or what we give our heart to!
One of the most tragic stories in the Bible is the life of Samson. Born as a child of promise, he was stirred by God’s Spirit from a young age (Judges 13:25) and was blessed with incredible strength. He even killed a thousand soldiers from the army of the Philistines in one single battle with a donkey’s jawbone! (Judges 15:15) There was nothing that could stop him, and so much going for him as the deliverer and judge of Israel.
Instead, he tragically gave his heart to a foreign woman named Delilah and revealed to her the secret of his strength. She then lulled him to sleep on her lap before getting people to shave off his hair. As a result, he lost his strength and the Spirit’s presence in his life, got his eyes gouged out, and was imprisoned for a long period.
Even when he managed to salvage his pride by killing many of the Philistine nobles after pushing down the supporting pillars of the temple, he had to die with them. What an ignoble end after such a life of promise! All of this happened because he chose to give his heart away to someone who would eventually destroy him.
In the same way, it grieves me to see many of our young (and even older) people giving their lives for causes that fall far beneath the good and perfect will God has
for us. This may be in the form of preoccupation or obsession over material goods, fame, fortune or even people we know that God has forbidden us to love. Lives of great promise are compromised because our hearts are dedicated to other lesser things than God. What a waste! This day, the word of the Lord reminds us to do something before calamity happens.
We can keep on the right and good path of the Lord’s will by watching over our hearts carefully and diligently. Never allow it to stray. As our hearts are focused on the Lord and his purposes alone, it will lead us to the wellspring of life.
Blessings,
Revd Ian