AUTHOR, WARNS AGAINST "UNGUARDED HEART"

For author Ricky Sim, accounts of biblical figures succumbing to temptations are a powerful reminder that the human heart is prone to stray and deceitful, and needs to be protected.

Speaking in an interview with The Christian Post, Ricky, 56, who wrote The Unguarded Heart: Everything You Do Flows From It (self-published, 2012), highlighted the cases of David and Solomon, two kings of Israel.

The book addresses the biblical understanding of the heart, the need to guard it, how to do so, and the heart of a worshipper. A public and private book launch was held on Palm Sunday.

Explaining the meaning of the title of his first book, Ricky noted that he had been asked why it is important to guard one's heart.

"If you don't guard it, everything will fail," said the avid Christian blogger, songwriter, and worship leader.

Spirituality itself is no insurance against succumbing to temptation. King David was commended as a man after God's heart. And yet he committed adultery and murder after seeing a woman bathing one day.

King Solomon, said to be the wisest man of his time, is another extreme case. His many wives turned his heart away from God.

The same pressures of life exist today. This often takes the form of the temptation to pursue wealth, power, and pleasure at all costs.

Another reason for guarding the heart is that God is concerned about it.

"If your heart is not right, your worship can become... noise," said Ricky, citing 1 Corinthians 13. After all, God admonished the Israelites in the Old Testament for not putting their heart into their worship, he added.

Ricky, an engineer, observed that the Kingdom of God has been an emphasis of the Christian community in recent years. As he wrote his book, he asked God how his subject fits into the flow of things.

His answer: "If your heart is not right, you can be talking about the Kingdom of God (but) it won't work."

An unguarded heart affects one's personal relationship with God. One begins to lose interest in reading the Word of God and becomes more prone to succumbing to temptation.

Spending hours watching television and neglecting Bible reading, and an inclination toward anger, hatred, bitterness, envy, jealousy may be signs of an unguarded heart.

In regard to guarding the heart, Ricky believes it is important to commit one's heart to the Lord and to sing to Him in worship on a daily basis. Christians should also guard their devotional time with God, memorizing and obeying His Word, and allow the Holy Spirit to teach, guide, counsel, convict, and lead them.

Strengthening one's personal relationship with God is an effective way of dealing with the numerous temptations. In his book, Ricky included the story of a Christian who, when he heard, Satan knocking at his door, promptly sent Christ to answer it.

The author hopes that his book will inspire Christians and help them to offer beautiful and clear hearts to God. An unguarded heart is a horrible thing, he expressed. The book's cover illustration of a fragmented heart shows this. Seeing the picture, one of its endorsers even described the book looked like a 'horror book'.

He encourages readers of his book to re-read it and allow it to become part of their daily life.

Ricky was motivated to write by a writer's workshop held two-and-a-half years ago. He is already planning to write two more books. One will be at the heart of the psalmist and another about 52 ways to guard the heart.

Note: This article was published in The Singapore Christian Post in May 2012.