Guard Rails

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

Guard rails are designed to protect motorists from going off the road in areas where the road is especially dangerous. As Christians our lives travel on dangerous roads every day.  Our culture seems to feel that living within boundaries is old fashioned and out of touch with reality.  How do we guard our hearts in a culture with no boundaries?  How do we protect our hearts from the perversion and sin of this world?  The answer is to set up guard rails. 

How do we set up guard rails?

      1. Guard our eyes and ears.  We need to guard our heart by guarding our eyes and ears from things that are unwholesome.  Psalm 101:3 “I will refuse to look at anything vile and vulgar. I hate all who deal crookedly; I will have nothing to do with them.”

When we allow ourselves to view television programs (or even commercials), movies, magazines, etc. that promote sinful behaviors or attitudes, sexual content, lifestyle choices contrary to the Word, etc. we open our heart up to the enemy.   Our brain has a small part in the front that is the collector of all the images we see.  Unlike our DVR it never erases.  The things we see stay in that tiny portion of our brain our entire life.  The enemy knows what data is stored there and loves nothing more than to bring them to our minds or even influence our dreams with them.  The same holds true for listening to music or conversations with vulgar language or sexual content.  It is important for us to protect our eyes and ears in order to guard our hearts. 

      2.  Guard our thoughts. Proverbs 23:7 (KJV) “For as he thinketh in his heart, so is he.”  Our thought life must be guarded at all costs.  We have to combat the enemy in our minds continually.  All sin begins with a thought. 

J. Oswald Sanders—The mind of man is the battleground on which every moral and spiritual battle is fought. 

2 Corinthians 10:5 “We destroy every proud obstacle that keeps people from knowing God. We capture their rebellious thoughts and teach them to obey Christ.”

Romans 12:2 “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” 

The Word talks about our thoughts repeatedly.  If God was concerned with our thoughts, how concerned should we be?  Guarding our thoughts goes hand-in-hand with guarding our eyes and ears.  Our thought life tends to be dominated by what we see and hear each day.  We must set up guard rails to protect ourselves from swerving into danger by what we see, hear, and think about. 

It is important to set up the rails before we run into danger.  When I am swerving toward the precipice that is not the time for workmen to be putting up the guard rail. It needs to be in place before I get to the dangerous spot. 

Some examples of guard rails:

1.     If I struggle with lustful/sexual thoughts, I might need to determine (set up a guard rail) not to view any movies or t.v. shows with sexual content. I might need to stay away from some magazines as well.

2.     If I struggle with  using profane language, I might need to stay away from people who use bad language, avoid situations where profanity is prevalent, and stay away from movies and t.v. shows or music that promote bad language. 

We each have areas that need guard rails.  We need to ask the Holy Spirit to reveal those areas to us and then to show us how to set up the boundaries that must be kept to protect our hearts from the enemies schemes.  Careening into danger zones that can be prevented is not an option.  We must guard our hearts at all costs!

All Scripture is NLT unless otherwise stated.