KEEP THINE HEART

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This is a re-run, but I feel imnpressed to send it again.  Bear with me,
please.

                         KEEP THY HEART

Proverbs 4:20  My son, attend to my words; incline thine ear unto my sayings. 

Proverbs 4:23  Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it [are] the
issues of life. 

A little "Father to son" talk is recorded here.  Blessed is the son who has a
father who will give him the facts of life instead of letting him grow up in
ignorance.

But there is something more here than meets the eye.  The instructions of this
father are typical of what our Heavenly Father wants to say to us.

Let me illustrate.  In 1943 I attended a Ministerial Conference in Parma,
Idaho.  A man named Frank J. Ewart was there, and preached a message I shall
never forget.  In part he said:

"I was driving in Los Angeles one day-- stopped at a stop sign-- a bum
motioned to get his attention.  The Spirit seemed to tell me to oblige the
man, so I rolled down a window and asked him what he wanted.  He wanted a ride
to (and said where he wanted to go).  Would I take him?  The spirit had
already indicated I should, so I told him to get in.

The man suspected that I was  Minister, and told me that he himself had, at
one time, been the Pastor of a large congregation.  I was stunned.  Here he
was, ragged, dirty, crumby-- in fact I could see the "crumbs" crawling around
on his collar.  I asked him how he ever managed to get in this shape if he had
once been a Pastor.

I shall never forget what the man said.  He told me that it had all started by
a fleeting thought one day in his office.  His secretary was moving about in
the office.  His eyes caught a glimpse of her, and a thought raced through his
mind.

Instead of immediately banishing the thought, he entertained it for a while.
Soon a whole horde of thoughts arrived to reinforce that first one.  The story
is an all-too-familiar one, and the end result is usually about the same, with
perhaps a few variations.

Not only was her life ruined, but his was immeasureably more so.  He lost his
family.  He lost his position.  He lost his reputation.  His self respect was
soon gone also.

The downward spiral only ended when he had reached the bottom.   It was not
that the Lord would not forgive him.  Rather, it was because he couldn't bring
himself to ASK for forgiveness.  His transgression was so great in his sight,
shame and regret precluded him asking for pardon from the Lord and other
humans whom he had betrayed."

Pastor Ewart was speaking to a number of young Ministers.  I was among them,
and have many times thanked God for the privilege of hearing about the dangers
of entertaining unholy thoughts.

Pastor Ewart was able to point the poor degenerate, drifting derelict toward
the path of repentance and restoration.

Perhaps you know someone who needs to be shown that path.  Hurry to them with
the good news.