Proverbs 4:27
"Turn not to the right hand nor to the left: remove thy foot from evil."
There are four areas in your life that are the gateway to your future.
Each of these gateways will determine what becomes of your future. You would think with something so powerful that people would protect those gateways with every part of their being. What I have found is that many times the most unprotected parts of our lives are the parts that influence us the most.
In the last five verses of Proverbs 4, God shows us these gateways that we are to protect. God says in the verse above, "Turn not to the right hand nor to the left..." In other words, you must stay straight in these four areas. Let me show you these gateways in your life that you must protect.
First, you must protect the gateway of your heart. Proverbs 4:23 says, "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." Your heart is the hidden part that nobody can see. It is the inner thoughts that you think. The heart is the desires that you have, the private meditations that you think about. You must protect what you allow to influence your heart. The people with whom you associate will affect your heart. I often say that other than the person you marry, the friends whom you choose will influence you more than anything else. Many people have been ruined by wrong friends. Your friends influence your heart, and whoever influences your heart will determine what you do. You must protect who you allow to be your friends for that is the gateway to your heart.
Second, you must protect the gateway of your mouth. Proverbs 4:24 says, "Put away from thee a froward mouth, and perverse lips put far from thee." What you say will determine what people think about you. Far too often we become flippant about the words we say when we should be extremely cautious about our words. Guard the gateway of your mouth and don't say things that you would regret later in life. Don't say things that you wouldn't want everyone to hear.
Third, you must protect the gateway of your eyes. Proverbs 4:25 says, "Let thine eyes look right on, and let thine eyelids look straight before thee." What you see goes straight into your mind. Your mind is like a hard drive that stores everything you see. Be very careful about making sure you read and watch the right things. All it takes is one book that teaches something wrong to influence your mind for wrong. All it takes is one look at a wrong picture for your mind to begin imagining things about which you should never think.
Fourth, you must protect the gateway of your feet. Proverbs 4:26 says, "Ponder the path of thy feet, and let all thy ways be established." Let me caution you to only go to the places where you would want Christ to see you. Every place you go you are telling people that you identify with it. The places you go will eventually influence you for right or wrong.
Friend, these four gateways must be protected with all of your being. Don't be flippant with them, but guard them as they are the gateways that influence your future. If you want a good future, then you must only allow right influences in each of these gateways.