Stand Guard

We were not allowed to stand on it. We were not allowed to sit on the couches around it. I'm surprised we were even allowed to look at it.

The Gator Rug!

You see, in the lobby of my high school auditorium there was this rug. A big beautiful, plush rug with a huge gator on it. The gator was our mascot. And one would have thought that this rug was God's throne. During school hours, if there was a need for anyone to be in the auditorium, there was someone there to guard the rug. We affectionately (or sarcastically) called them the "auditorium ladies." I don't know how you became one, but their main job was to protect the rug at all costs. Everyone knew not to even attempt to get close to the rug if the auditorium lady on duty was around. It was like an unspoken code. I think all students who attended Ware County High School in the late 80s and early 90s have been yelled at for daring to come close to the rug. I admit that sometimes we made it a game. We tried to distract the auditorium ladies long enough for a friend to have the honor of standing on the gator rug. But a tongue lashing was sure to follow as soon as the eyes in the back of their heads opened up!

For community events, though, the rules changed. They still stood guard at the rug, but they allowed people to stand on it, to sit on the couches around it, to admire it. My fellow classmates and I often took joy at attending community events because that meant for a brief moment, we could stand on the rug without being reprimanded. I don't know why they didn't just hang it on the wall. There, the rug would have been protected from the dirt and grime from peoples' shoes. On the wall it could have been admired from afar. On the wall, it would have been safe. I guess they recognzied that the rug had a purpose. In order for it to fulfill it's purpose it needed to be on the ground. So, instead of hanging it out of reach, they hired these ladies to stand guard.

I still laugh about that rug. I wonder if the rug is still there. There is a new high school. That school is now the middle school, and I'm not sure how much the auditorium is used anymore. I wonder if they still hire auditorium ladies. I wonder if they are still standing guard.

Their zeal for that rug, though, is the same zeal we should have for our own hearts and lives. God commands us to guard our hearts in Proverbs 4:23.

Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.

How often do we fail to do this! We do not guard our hearts from bitterness and envy. We do not guard our hearts from lust. We do not guard our hearts from hatred. We do not guard our attitudes. We respond to people out of hurt and anger. We make decisions based on our own wants rather than God's word. We make decisions out of selfishness, with no regard to how it might affect other people. We say and do things because it's our right, right? All the while, we are allowing our hearts to become hardened. We are allowing things to take root in our heart that don't belong there.

We need to be as vigilant with our hearts as those auditorium ladies were with the gator rug. Most of the time, I am careless with my heart. I don't guard it like I should. I allow myself to be distracted by the flashy and enticing things of the world. I allow the dirt and grime of the outside to discolor my heart and make it stained. And when it's dirty, I don't love like I should. I don't serve others like I should. I don't look at others as better than myself as I am commanded by my God.

But like the rug was never hung on the wall because it served a purpose there on the lobby floor, I cannot hide my heart away. Sometimes I think it would be easier that way. Go away to some quiet and solemn place like the monks, removing myself from the world. But I am here to serve a purpose. I'm still discovering God's purpose as my life unfolds, and what an exciting process it is to remove the wrapping paper layer by layer! That purpose will be something great. With God's design, as that purpose unfolds, people will look at it in admiration, not at me or at anything I can do but at the marvelous things my creator God is capable of if I am a willing vessel.

I need to find some auditorium ladies for my heart. I know just where to find them. Their names are bible study, prayer, worship, fasting, tithing, and rest. They come adorned in love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, and self-control. They can help me be vigilant in the task of standing guard around my heart.