"Like a city that is broken into and without walls is a man who has no control over his spirit"
Solomon is talking about a blind spot that destroys the life of many people. They cannot control their emotions. They have no control over their reactions to what happens to them. They react in anger, bitterness, sadness, hate, love, etc. They have no ability to wait and stop the reaction from flowing out or the temptation from getting in.
Now we all struggle with this and the greater the degree that we have control over our emotions, the healthier we are. Now I did not say to suppress our emotions but have control over our emotions. Solomon said it was a city wall which suggests gates and an ability to flow in and out.
We are all responsible to construct walls around our soul and controls around our inner life so that we have control and do not flow out or let things flow in too easily. The Scripture is full of ways to build these walls. Find these ways and which ones work for you. Let the grace of Christ empower you to resist temptation in the specific ways that allow you control.
Notice that the analogy is to walls around a city that protect things from getting in and things from getting out. A person's time, energy, thoughts, etc., are not to be treated lightly. It is not okay for every thought or piece of mail or phone call or email to make it through to you. If you are at the beck and call of everyone who calls or who emails or who writes, then you will never get anything accomplished. It is only by restricting access to our soul, our time, and our energy that we ever become a strong person.
Only as we focus on the things that we should be doing will our little personal city ever become fully healthy and functional. If we allow ourselves to be constantly interrupted by phones, emails, drop-bys, etc., then we are the city without walls. Restricting access is the key to accomplishment. Set aside time every day to get the important things done. Limit the number of distractions throughout the day.
In today's world there are ever growing demands on a person's time and an increasing number of gadgets and pressing things that will disrupt real growth. One never can get to all the phone calls, to all the emails, to all the instant messages. You will fritter away whole mornings and whole days doing nothing but responding to others instead of accomplishing what God wants.
How restricted is your access to your soul. It should be protected and guarded.
Until tomorrow,
Gil Stieglitz