This last friday night I gave a wedding homily for some dear friends. It was an absolute honor that I cherish with humility. Because it was my first wedding sermon which I had spent quite a bit of time wording and rewording, not to mention I was beyond nervous, I did something I very rarely do: I actually read my message word for word.
In my preparations and carrying through my sermon, one of the reoccurring themes was the value of protecting your heart. The idea of guarding your heart is an important theme of Scripture, but it comes through verbatim in Proverbs 4:23:
"Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it."
Guarding our hearts is a metaphor referring to protecting what we let in and what we let out. It demands that we be vigilant in protecting and preserving that which has been given us by the grace of God.
In the end, protecting our heart from the onslaught of the deadly arrows coming from the evil one and from the lovelessness of this world is about putting Christ at the center of our hearts. For he is our strength and our shield. It means that we will keep in right perspective that which is eternal, holy and beautiful. And we will only let in that which is worthy of admittance while refusing entry of anything that is ungodly and unrighteous. Let us then press on to keep Christ at the center as we strive to guard our hearts in the Lord God Almighty.
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