Care Of The Heart
30 I went past the field of the sluggard,
past the vineyard of the man who lacks judgment;
31 thorns had come up everywhere,
the ground was covered with weeds,
and the stone wall was in ruins.
32 I applied my heart to what I observed
and learned a lesson from what I saw:
33 A little sleep, a little slumber,
a little folding of the hands to rest-
34 and poverty will come on you like a bandit
and scarcity like an armed man.
Reflection of Bee:
Jeremiah 17:9 tells us that "The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?"
That means even we may not understand our own heart and can be deceived by it. Our feelings are so fickle and and can change quickly even for no good reasons. If we allow our feelings to control us, our heart may become like what is described in v31 (thorns, weeds and stones).
Thank God that He said, "I the LORD search the heart and examine the mind, to reward a man according to his conduct, according to what his deeds deserve." (Jeremiah 17:10) The only one who can truly understand our heart is God. We need Him to search and examine us daily and show us what the condition of our heart is and repent if necessary.
As Christians, "the peace of God, which transcends all understanding (including ours), will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus."(Philippians 4:7) Yes, when we are confused by our deceitful heart, we can rely on the peace of God to guide us to do the right things despite of our feelings. That's the only way to prevent "poverty" (v34) of our heart.
Dear Lord,
Thank You for reminding me how deceitful my heart can be. It may think deceive me in thinking I need more than what I really need and seek after the wrong things. May Your peace guard and keep my mind in You whenever I get confused.
In Jesus' name I pray. Amen.
Reflection of Tommy:
We can spend so much time on trivial pursuits and worldly pleasure that we neglect and even forget those truly important things in life. Important things like spending time with God and to be renewed by Him each day or nurturing relationship with our loved ones.
We fool ourselves by thinking we’ll able to get back to them once we are done with our indulgence or when we are really free one day. But most of the times, this will never happen and often it takes something bad to happen before we finally wake us up from our ignorance and turn away from our thoughtlessness.
Dear Father, thank You for making me aware of the importance to prioritize right both my energy and time on things that matters. Forgive my ignorance and carelessness at times for not being wise and diligent with my heart, letting it wanders aimlessly.
Lord, if I have run afar from You and Your ways, lead me back and align me again with You. Help me to center my heart on You and the things above and eternal, that I may be an effective witness for Christ in this world. In Jesus’ Name I pray, Amen.
