The Rockin' Rev February 2021

The season of Lent is a 40-day period beginning on Ash Wednesday, which in 2021 falls on the 17th February. Many churches have special services on Ash Wednesday at which people are marked with the sign of the cross in ash upon their foreheads
 
Traditionally, Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of a 40-day journey of self-examination and renewal. Self-examination concerns matters of the heart about which the Bible has much to say. For example, in Proverbs 4:23 we read

Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it

 
We are all very security conscious and we guard a lot of things in life. We guard our home by locking the door, setting an alarm system, and installing CCTV cameras. We guard our money by putting it in a bank. We guard important documents by storing them away securely. We guard the information on our devices by using passwords. We guard our health by eating a good diet and taking exercise
 
It’s important that we guard all the things that are valuable to us. But in doing so we must never overlook our most valuable asset which is our heart
 
The ancients understood the heart to be more than just a physical organ of the human body that pumps blood. They regarded the heart as the centre of our emotional, intellectual and moral activities. The teaching of Jesus reflected this understanding of the heart. He said
 
Good people do good things because of the good in their hearts. Bad people do bad things because of the evil in their hearts. Your words show what is in your heart
 
If everything you do, and everything you say, flows from your heart, it’s not surprising that the writer of Proverbs 4:23 implores his readers with the words
 

Above all things, guard your hearts

 
The two most obvious ways to “guard your heart” is to guard the two ‘doorways’ into your heart, that is, your eyes and your ears. What are you allowing into your eyes that’s impacting your heart? What do you watch on TV or on social media? What are you allowing into your ears that’s impacting your heart? What kind of music are you listening to? What kind of conversations do you tune into?

It’s important that we guard our heart because, by doing so, we guard our life. What fills our heart will inevitably direct our life and influence the way we behave and the way we speak. Be mindful then, of what you allow into your eyes and into your ears

Rev Brian Hall

Vicar, St Andrew’s Church

also published by St Andrew's Church in the Gorleston Community Magazine

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