Guard Your Heart

Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. (Proverbs 4:23 NIV)

The first four chapters of the You Are What You Love have focused on describing the way that our practices during our Sunday gatherings shape us. The point is that worship, not study, is the core of discipleship. We don’t learn to follow Jesus by studying about following Jesus. Smith often returns to the illustration of carrying a cat by its tail. I know enough to know that this wouldn’t be a positive experience, but the only way to fully understand what this is like would be to pick up a cat by the tail and carry it.

I understand and practice this in most of my life, but struggle with it when it comes to discipleship. I recently installed a new bathroom exhaust fan. In the process, it was necessary to redo the exhaust piping. In the past, I would have tried to find a book on how to do this, but now the go-to way to learn is to get on YouTube. That helped, but I didn’t truly understand the full process until I had completed it. It is a great feeling to have two functioning exhaust fans.

Where is your family headed based on the day to day habits and practices that take place in your home? One of the habits we practiced when our children were younger was singing together. Every evening we gathered around the piano and sang the next song in the hymnal. My memory is a little foggy, but I think everyone sang the melody the first time to teach it to me. Then I tried to sing the melody again while everyone else sang a different harmony part. We learned that there were some songs in the hymnal that we never wanted to sing again. More importantly, we learned to work together and we all learned to express our love to God through singing.

The Sunday gathering occupies a couple of hours each week. Your family spends much more time at home. Take some time to think through your daily routine. What does each activity communicate about who God is and what it means to be loved by Him?

For my grandchildren:

God love you. Let Him into every part of your life so that you will learn to love Him and others.