It’s been a few weeks since I’ve submitted a Thought to Ponder but I am working towards getting back on track. 

As many of you reading this know life happens, and when life happens we can get sidetracked, or sometimes we can become repositioned which can cause our life to become still. 

This morning my thoughts take me to the book of Genesis, back to the garden with Adam and Eve.  

In chapter 3:3 Eve repeats to the snake what God spoke to them and she said:  But of the fruit of the tree which is in the midst of the Garden, God has said, You shall not eat of it, neither shall you touch it, lest you die, and in verse 4, the serpent said unto her, you shall not surely die.

Let me ask this question, what does it mean to “guard our heart”?

I did a little research on it and this is what I found. According to man’s terminology “guarding your heart” means actively protecting your inner life and spiritual well-being from the influence of negative thoughts, feelings, and actions that could lead to sin or separation from God. 

The Bible emphasizes the importance of guarding our heart, using the metaphor of a fountain or spring from which life and character flow.  

In Proverbs 4:23 we are taught, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it”. 

This means that our heart’s condition impacts our thoughts, words, actions, and relationships profoundly. 

So going back to the garden, going back to Eve repeating what God spoke, I had to ask myself this question, what was it, or what could have happened to Eve that she let her guard down, knowing God and yet was so easily deceived by the snake? 

I mean, they were in the most perfect place, they had everything imaginable. It was peaceful, no chaos, no busyness, there were no magazines to sway her into becoming something she wasn’t, there was no other women that she would have to compete with, her life could not have been any better. 

So, what happened? 

Maybe, the answer is as simple as her just being naive, which made her vulnerable to becoming easily influenced by the snakes deceit? 

He convinced her that if she ate of the forbidden fruit she would be like God and know all things. 

You see, the snake was a master at his deceit, he knew he could use Eve to get to Adam and it worked, but when Eve learned the truth her world was forever changed. 

You and I don’t know from day to day what the day will truly be like, sure we have our agendas, we have our routines but what about the unexpected? 

What happens when the serpent shows up in your day to day functions?  

What could he use to distract you? 

Do you have your guard up or do you become easily convinced of his lies? 

It is so important that we check ourselves daily, what is in our hearts, where our thoughts are? 

Are we on guard or just going through the motions of the day?