I have been thinking about the advice given in Proverbs as I witness how the mountain forests of Colorado are being devastated: “Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life” (
Right now throughout the Rocky Mountain West, entire mountainsides are covered with dead pine trees. Land that used to be green, alive and beautiful is now brown, dead and ugly. The cause: the Rocky Mountain pine beetle.
It is not just the beetle that is at the heart of the devastation; it is the weakened condition of the forest itself. You see, the pine beetle always has been around, thinning the forests of old and damaged trees. The beetle bores into the heart of the tree and within several months robs it of life. If the tree is healthy, it is able to produce enough sap to overwhelm the beetle and drive it out.
Unfortunately the forests of Colorado are overcrowded due to a hundred years of forest fire prevention and stressed due to a decade of drought. Overcrowded, stressed trees are easy prey for the swarming beetles. The condition of the forest itself is a major reason for the devastation.
This concludes our forestry lecture for the day, but let me ask you an important question: What is the condition of your heart?
How to Guard Your Heart
Like the condition of the forest, the condition of our heart is crucial to our overall wellbeing. When we become overcrowded—too busy and too stressed—our hearts can become weakened. Sin of all kinds attacks, seeking to bore into our hearts and rob us of the life Jesus came to give us. When our hearts are healthy, rooted in Christ, we have the ability to keep sin from overwhelming us.
My wife, Barbara, has taught me much about the need to guard the heart. Too often, I neglected my most precious possession—my heart—and the results were disastrous. Much of what you are reading here she teaches to Christian leaders across the country and around the world.
So let’s define heart. Oswald Chambers says the heart is “you, the real you.” The heart is our truest self, redeemed by Christ and alive by the Spirit. Out of our hearts flow our actions, attitudes and thoughts. The condition of the heart determines how a person lives. One’s inner life is crucial and must not be neglected.
The life of ministry is often a life of busyness and stress. There are so many needs and so much to do, but if we allow that busyness and stress to control our lives, our hearts weaken and we are susceptible to the pine beetles of sin. We are robbed of true life, and in time we become spiritually damaged or worse.
So how do we guard our hearts? It means thinning the forest of our lives along with regular soakings at the spring of living water. Thinning means making sure there is time for rest and play. Jesus clearly modeled a balance of intense ministry and seasons of rest.
Balance must include significant time with Jesus—time allowing Him to remind us of who we are and letting His grace soak deeply into our being. We are not changed by a system, a curriculum or discipline. We are changed by a Person—Jesus. Many tools can help draw us to Jesus, but only He can change our hearts.
Appearances Can Be Deceiving
The trees being attacked by the pine beetle look healthy for many months before they die. Then the pine needles turn brown, first at the top of the tree and working toward the bottom.
Likewise, you and I can fool people—and even ourselves—for a time; but unhealthy hearts eventually will fall prey when they are not guarded.
Let me ask you again: What is the condition of your heart?
