Drastic Measures
May 16th, 2012Proverbs 4:20 My son, pay attention to what I say; turn your ear to my words. 21 Do not let them out of your sight, keep them within your heart; 22 for they are life to those who find them and health to one’s whole body. 23 Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.
I recently had to take drastic measures. I went to the hardware store and got an 8” strip of tin to put along the bottom of the gates to our back yard. The reason?- our mild mannered, and aging and blind Cocker Spaniel can be so intent on escape from the back yard that she eats away the bottom of the pickets until she can squeeze herself through to “freedom”. More than once, our wonderful neighbor has had to, in our absence, return her to the yard and prop something against the gate in an attempt to contain her. It has yet to be proven, but I’m hoping the metal will prohibit her destructive gnawing and keep her from getting hurt in that dangerous realm to which she is so insistent to escape.
It’s no enough to just have a wonderful quiet time where a few powerful words from the scriptures are allowed to briefly make a pass through the back yard of the mind. For some reason, those words have a consistent way of making their way from being readily accessible, and escaping to the forgotten place where they are unable to protect, inspire, correct and equip. To really attend to them, to really keep them within sight, it might just take some drastic measures, where the gates are secured and they are purposely prohibited from escaping by barriers that are stronger than thin, fleeting acknowledgment. It might require some intense meditation, where they are not only memorized, but also screwed right down into the heart through meditation. Then, when the flood of other distractions comes to bring damage and their way of escape, there will be a steel barrier that prohibits their departure. It also will not just be enough to depend on the construction that took place last week. They will have to be looked upon daily and inspected for any possibility of damage to their escaping.
Where there is value and love placed, and where there is a treasure that touches the heart, there will be extreme care given to prohibit even the smallest loss. And, trust cannot rest on the care that was given in the past. There will be a continual vigilance and presence of defense against any threat of their escape.
