“Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” Proverbs 4:23 NLT
Major League Baseball’s Cleveland franchise opened the 2022 season under a new name. Although Cleveland had name changes three times within fourteen years, this is the first name change in over one hundred years for this historic franchise. The new name that was chosen is “Guardians,” and for good reason. Outside Progressive Field, the home of the Cleveland franchise, stands four 43-foot statues on the Hope Memorial Bridge known as “Guardians of Traffic.” Standing for almost one hundred years they represent, in a figurative way, the watching over and protection of traffic across the bridge connecting downtown Cleveland with its neighbors across the Cuyahoga River. Through hundreds of names considered and countless hours in deciding, the team finalized the process by selecting “Guardians,” those who stand guard and protect.
King Solomon, the wisest man who ever lived, said the following, “Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.” (Pr.4:23 nlt) Our hearts are much more than our emotions and how we are feeling. Scripture defines the heart as the mind, our inner being, our thinking, reasoning, and our will. There is an enormous amount of traffic that surround our lives like a freeway in any major city. This includes our hearts. As we travel on the highways of life precautions need to be in place to not slow us down or bring us to a total stop due to an accident. Driver instructors emphasize defensive driving to their students as part of the training. Our hearts need to be guarded defensively in what we encounter in front of us. How will we respond to the traffic around us? What we engage in and where we put our thoughts will be determined by how well we guard our hearts.
The “Guardians of Traffic” on Cleveland’s Hope Memorial Bridge is a suitable example of ever flowing traffic on bridges and in the human heart. It is essential to guard our hearts in not going in a wrong direction and to avoid dangerous situations by keeping our eyes on the road and our hands on the wheel, guarding our hearts.
Solomon adds “Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you. Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path. Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.” (Pr.4:25-27 nlt) Guard your heart!
