Matters of the Heart - Pt 1

Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life. Put away from you crooked speech, and put devious talk far from you. Let your eyes look directly forward, and your gaze be straight before you. Ponder the path of your feet; then all your ways will be sure. Do not swerve to the right or to the left; turn your foot away from evil. (Proverbs 4:23-27 ESV).

I don’t know where January got off to; however, with the start of February I have begun to think more about “Matters of the Heart.” This is true both in an emotional and physical way. The emotional part of my thoughts is easy enough to understand, though the physical part may require a bit of background. About eighteen months ago I was in the hospital for some cardio-vascular testing. They had done every test up to this final, more invasive test. They couldn’t find anything wrong, though my symptoms persisted. By the time the procedure was finished the doctors had placed stents in two arteries and found a 60% blockage in the LAD (better known as the “widow maker”). This month is another round of testing to determine if that blockage has increased. Did you know the human heart typically pumps at a rate of 70-75 beats per minute, and though weighing only 11 ounces on average, a healthy heart pumps 2,000 gallons of blood through 60,000 miles of blood vessels each day? A healthy heart can do amazing things. Conversely, if our heart malfunctions, our whole body shuts down. The same could be said of our “spiritual heart.” In Scripture, the word heart represents the center of our emotions, thinking, and reasoning. It is the “command center” of our life. So, I thought February would be a great time to do a brief series of devotionals dealing with our spiritual heart. Our reading today is taken from the collection known as the “Book of Wisdom.” The first verse declares, “Keep your heart with all vigilance” (v. 23). Of course, that’s easy to understand; however, it is advice that is next to impossible to keep. Life will always make demands upon our time and energy that cry out for immediate attention. By comparison, taking time to hear God’s Word and to do what it says may not shout quite so loudly. We may not notice the consequences of neglect right away, but over time it may give way to a spiritual heart attack. I’m thankful God has given us His Word. We need His help not to neglect it, but to use it to align our hearts with His every day. So, we’ll begin some devotionals today that will help us get a “check-up.” As part of the procedure, begin to think about your condition. Has there been any changes in your life; are you “feeling” as fit as ever? Or, have you slipped a bit? It could be that you need to get more spiritual blood flowing by tuning your spiritual heart. Start today with a sincere expression to the Lord for change!