HEART

When I woke up this morning I had no idea what I was in for.

I woke up excited about wearing jeans and my football t-shirt to work [to celebrate the Superbowl of course]. I had my six-month check-up for my thyroid at 9:20am, but I wasn't worried about it. When I got there the nurse checked all my vitals, and things weren't right. 

     ·         I had a fever that I didn't know I had

     ·         My blood pressure was high

     ·         My resting pulse rate was 122

At first my doctor thought the high pulse was due to a machine error, so she checked it manually. Nope. 

When they checked it at the end of my appointment it was even higher. We chatted a bit and she recommended that I go see my general physician ASAP for an EKG because of my family history and the fact that I'm already on blood pressure regulators. Luckily they had an opening at 2, so I left there with a heart monitor to wear for 72 hours. It's uncomfortable, it itches, and it's not fashionable by any means. Once I got past the phrase "your heart isn't working right" ringing in my ear, I was able to calm down and think. I began to think about how every physical thing that I do in life has an effect on my heart. The things I eat and drink, medications I take, how I handle [or don't handle] stress, how I move, how I feel, etc. Our heart is the single most important organ in our body. Our minds are important too, but someone can be brain dead and still have a heartbeat.

In a spiritual sense, the heart is just as valuable. All through the Bible - Old Testament and New - the writers talked about the heart. Solomon said in Proverbs 4:23: "Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life." After reading this verse I realized how important it is to guard our hearts. Within the heart lies our affections, our desires, our passions. We could easily give way to the world and let it consume us. It wouldn't take much with most of us either. I recently heard a missionary [Patrick Weimer] speak at our church and he didn't open his Bible a single time. It wasn't because he didn't preach the truth from it - it was because he had the passages memorized. I couldn't have flipped back and forth in my Bible fast enough to have kept up with him. It blew my mind. He was also one of the most Spirit-filled men I've ever seen too and I believe there's a simple reason for that. He had God's Word hidden in his heart. 

Most of us go through phases where we crash diet or try new exercise regimens to build up strength in our bodies and tone muscles. Any nutritionist will tell you that this is a horrible habit to get into because the going back and forth does more harm to your body. Here's how my diet/exercise routine typically works: 

     ·            I get motivated and run strong for a few weeks

     ·            I plateau after ten pounds and then simply try to maintain

     ·            I feel entitled to a piece of cake and start pushing boundaries

     ·            I get comfortable and that piece of cake gets washed down with a Mtn. Dew

     ·            I forget everything and end up right back where I was in the beginning

If you're going to make a difference it needs to be a 'lifestyle' adjustment; not an on again off again thing you do. We don't realize how easy it is to get like this in our Christian walk. Crash dieting with God's Word is even more dangerous than a crash diet with food/exercise. A few good services are wonderful motivation. We make it a priority to read more, study more, and pray more for a few weeks. It then becomes a habit and the 'newness' wears off. Time eventually becomes more of a priority and we begin taking time away from Bible studies, readings, and prayers. It eventually gets to the point where we depend on Sunday's messages to get us through the week. My friends, this is something we're all guilty of doing and it's killing us. We aren't keeping our spiritual hearts healthy. Do whatever you have to do in order to keep that blood flowing, that heart pumping, and keep building endurance. Find a workout partner; a person to keep you accountable. Find friends that delight in talking about the Lord with you to keep you motivated. Have study partners. Take up with a small-group study. Do anything it takes to keep building your love for God and the things of God. Make your heart only beat for Him. He gave his last breath and final heartbeats so that we could have life. Living for Him is the least we can do. 

"Wherefore seeing we also are compassed about with so great a cloud of witnesses, let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which doth so easily beset [us], and let us run with patience the race that is set before us, Looking unto Jesus the author and finisher of [our] faith; who for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is set down at the right hand of the throne of God. For consider him that endured such contradiction of sinners against himself, lest ye be wearied and faint in your minds." - Hebrews 12:1-3