January 7

Guard your heart with all diligence, for from it flow springs of life. — Prov 4:23 BSB

Each of us carries within ourselves the seeds of our own happiness or misery. It’s our hearts that color the sky and shape the music we hear in life. A heart that is well-kept brings peace and joy; a badly kept heart causes pain and turmoil.

Norman McLeod once said, “Nothing makes a person so content as a life lived carefully from the start.” To ensure full happiness, we must live in such a way that no day will leave a memory that brings us shame or regret in the future.

The time to secure a “well-watched past” is while we’re young and our early days are passing by. We can’t change the past. A life lived without God and holiness will yield a harvest of misery in old age. But a life of obedience, faithfulness, purity, and selfless service will make our old age like a garden full of fruit and flowers.