Daily Devotions – Guard my Heart

Daily Devotions – Guard my Heart

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Click this link to hear an audio version of the below text narrated by SOTH member Al Campbell:

 

Proverbs 6:20-35(ESV)
Warnings Against Adultery
20 My son, keep your father’s commandment and forsake not your mother’s teaching. 21 Bind them on your heart always; tie them around your neck. 22 When you walk, they will lead you; when you lie down, they will watch over you; and when you awake, they will talk with you. 23 For the commandment is a lamp and the teaching a light, and the reproofs of discipline are the way of life, 24 to preserve you from the evil woman, from the smooth tongue of the adulteress. 25 Do not desire her beauty in your heart, and do not let her capture you with her eyelashes; 26 for the price of a prostitute is only a loaf of bread, but a married woman hunts down a precious life. 27 Can a man carry fire next to his chest and his clothes not be burned? 28 Or can one walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched? 29 So is he who goes into his neighbor’s wife; none who touches her will go unpunished. 30 People do not despise a thief if he steals to satisfy his appetite when he is hungry, 31 but if he is caught, he will pay sevenfold; he will give all the goods of his house. 32 He who commits adultery lacks sense; he who does it destroys himself. 33 He will get wounds and dishonor, and his disgrace will not be wiped away. 34 For jealousy makes a man furious, and he will not spare when he takes revenge. 35 He will accept no compensation; he will refuse though you multiply gifts.

 

How does this passage suggest you keep your life pure

 

Lord, You are concerned primarily about my heart. You want me to have a healthy heart. My heart is the center and source of the whole inner life. You taught that adultery starts in the heart. Adultery does not usually just appear from nowhere. The unfaithfulness starts with the heart.  Although all sin breaks Your law and is therefore serious, there are gradations of sin. Some sins are far worse than others. The consequences of adultery are destructive, powerful, and serious.  Several of the laws in the passage for today were developed to give us boundaries to safeguard our hearts and lives. Lord, help me to take your words and bind them upon my heart. Lord, thank you for the gifts you give me and the boundaries that you have provided. Lead me not into temptation but deliver me from evil. May Your words be like a lamp and a light to keep me on Your path to righteousness. Guard my heart, Lord. Amen