Beware the Heart

Oh treacherous one invisible yet always present.

Beautiful at times, filled with love so tender and sweet.

Beware, for unguarded, it may break and give in to hate in a moment

It will conjure up sinful desires and create deceit.

The tongue may lash out or it may console.

Mighty is the tongue for it either comforts or destroys,

But even the tongue is mastered by what resides in the soul.

Many thoughts fill the mind but without wisdom they are all noise.

Numerous as the sands and fickle as the sea are emotions in the heart.

Effortlessly they flow at all times but rarely with any restraint.

Emotions abound and flood the heart but beware pride for it rends apart.

Once pride permeates the soul it chokes love and peace until they grow faint.

How strange that so much fear and doubt should come from what no one sees.

Even stranger to think that both hatred and joy might reside within.

Love builds a foundation but unchecked anger will carry you away like a breeze.

Therefore beware your own heart and its counsel lest it cause you to sin.

Destruction follows victorious pride, as Scripture says pride comes before the fall.

But earnestly ask the Lord for humility and He will faithfully grant your request.

If you desire to know and carry out His will for you then give Him your all.

Entrust your heart to Him and even in your darkest moments you will find rest.

Treachery of Life and Sea

We want to believe we run along the ground with our goals in sight.

The playing field is level so we are told, but life does not like the ground.

Life has turmoil, unseen and unanticipated events but we see for miles on flat land.

No, we do not run life’s race on land we sail on the seas harsh and unpredictable.

The waves toss us about and we must keep our head otherwise we get off course.

The sea does not forgive, care, or show much except for deceptively clear horizons.

Goals we set are susceptible to the current and often escape our grasp.

At sea our goals appear as a barrel, small and adrift barely visible to the naked eye.

Nearly all barrels are unmarked we must open them to discover the contents.

Beware western shoals and northern ice for they destroy even the strongest ships.

Dark and beautiful mysteries lurk beneath the waves, but they rarely surface.

When they surface they inspire both fear and awe, sometimes joy.

We are at the wind’s mercy, when it blows we press on but many times becalmed.

Storms arrive at moments notice and the waves will pound a ship to splinters.

Keep your head in a storm and you may live but life has no guarantees.

Perhaps the worst at sea is the fog; you cannot see through it nor readily avoid it.

With fog comes fear, the unknown haunts your heart for fog conceals danger.

In these moments indeed the whole voyage all depends on your captain.

If you are captain then you sail alone, your mates cannot sail your vessel.

If your captain is Christ, ask for direction and it will be given, for you are never alone.

He will calm your fears and set your course aright if you listen and obey.

Life does not have guarantees but the Lord reassures those who believe in Him.

Those who follow the Lord find greater reward in what many consider lesser roles.

They are forever in His hands and need not fear for even in death there is reward.

Psalm 91:1

He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty.