Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life. (Prov. 4:23 NIV)

Truest Treasure
Our hearts are our most treasured possessions, and not just because they pump the blood and keep our brains and bodies going.

Our hearts are the symbol God uses in His Word to represent our spirits. And our spirits are the real us. More importantly, if we have accepted Jesus as our Savior, our hearts hold the most precious treasure of all--His Holy Spirit! So the most important thing we will ever do once we receive Jesus into our heart is to protect that most priceless treasure.

Over 600 verses in the Bible talk about our hearts, and it is our hearts--our spirits--that are the thing about us most important to God. It is not how we look. It is not where we live, or where we go to school, or how many nice things we have.

Guard Your Treasure
Think of something you have--a puppy, a necklace, a toy, a CD--that is your very favorite thing of all the blessings God has given you. Now, would you let someone come in and steal it or tear it up, or even spill dirty oil or mud or something on it? Of course not. You love that thing and you take excellent care of it, so you protect it.

But things can sometimes try to take the place of God in our hearts, which means to become more important to us than Him. That is why 1 John says:(My) little children, guard yourselves from idols. (1 John 5:21)

Nothing is more important to us than Jesus. He is our truest Treasure. So it is extremely important that you guard your heart! But, since your heart--your spirit--is inside you and you can’t see it, how do you protect it?

With spiritual armor that is also unseen, of course!

Wear Your Spiritual Armor
The spiritual armor is found in Ephesians 6:10-18. The different pieces of the armor of God stand for various ways we who are true believers can protect our hearts from the evil plans of the enemy.

The last verse also mentions to pray and keep praying, not only for ourselves but for others, and to watch. To watch means to be on the lookout for evil, just like a good guard does. So to guard your heart is to keep watch to protect it from evil.

One way to guard your heart is to obey those the Lord has put in authority over you.

So, to guard your heart, follow verses 1-3 of the same chapter of Ephesians: Children, obey your parents in the LORD: for this is right. Honor thy father and mother; (which is the first commandment with promise;) That it may be well with thee, and thou mayest live long on the earth. (Eph. 6:1-3)

Other excellent ways to guard your heart are to read and memorize God’s Word: to speak God’s Word aloud; to pray, especially to pray His Word; to worship Him; and to think on good things.

God actually commands us to do all of these things, for He knows that the most important thing we will ever do once we receive Jesus is to guard our hearts. He will help you. If you feel weak, or like you keep messing up in guarding your heart, just ask Him to help you. He will give you strategies for victory to help you guard your greatest treasure!

Tonja and her husband live to exalt God. They lift Him up in books (P.O.W.E.R. Girl!; LEGACY; Visions of the King; Your Holy Health; more); presentations; service in church, community, and the world; and via the "River Rain Creative" (300 videos) and "POWERLight Learning" You Tube channels.