My son, pay attention to what I say;
turn your ear to my words.
Do not let them out of your sight,
keep them within your heart;
for they are life to those who find them
and health to one’s whole body.
Above all else, guard your heart,
for everything you do flows from it.
Proverbs 4:20-23
This week I’m wearing a heart monitor. Nothing serious - just a check to make sure my heart is functioning properly. So for 48 hours a little device is picking up my heartbeats and logging the data for a doctor to examine. Every single heartbeat. Google says my heart beats about 100,000 times in a day, pumping about 5.7 liters of blood throughout my body. If stress, hormones, nutrient deficiencies, poor diet or lack of exercise are causing abnormalities, I must address the root cause. A healthy heart is essential for life.
While I can’t wait to remove these annoying electrodes, it has me thinking about how to monitor the condition of my spiritual heart. How do I know if it’s healthy? No device can measure that. I have to examine what’s flowing from my life. Am I displaying the fruit of the Spirit? Am I walking in obedience to God and love for my neighbor? Am I able to forgive or am I easily offended, quick to judge, storing up resentment? These are some indicators regarding the state of my heart.
In Proverbs 4, Solomon exhorts his son to pay attention to his words of wisdom and keep/protect them in his heart. He then says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” What we allow into our hearts affects what we do. Just as with our physical hearts, there are root causes for dysfunction. It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and lose touch with our hearts. It’s easy to let the anger and strife of this world seep into our souls. These shifts can be subtle and hard to detect.
It’s good to pause and take our spiritual pulse or connect a “heart monitor” for a few days. Some questions I’m asking the Lord this week: “What unhealthy inputs do I need to guard against? What truths should I keep close to improve my health?” May we be people who stay in sync with the Lord’s rhythms as we seek to live well and minister in a broken-hearted world.
~ Jen Hanson
While I can’t wait to remove these annoying electrodes, it has me thinking about how to monitor the condition of my spiritual heart. How do I know if it’s healthy? No device can measure that. I have to examine what’s flowing from my life. Am I displaying the fruit of the Spirit? Am I walking in obedience to God and love for my neighbor? Am I able to forgive or am I easily offended, quick to judge, storing up resentment? These are some indicators regarding the state of my heart.
In Proverbs 4, Solomon exhorts his son to pay attention to his words of wisdom and keep/protect them in his heart. He then says, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it.” What we allow into our hearts affects what we do. Just as with our physical hearts, there are root causes for dysfunction. It’s easy to get caught up in the busyness of life and lose touch with our hearts. It’s easy to let the anger and strife of this world seep into our souls. These shifts can be subtle and hard to detect.
It’s good to pause and take our spiritual pulse or connect a “heart monitor” for a few days. Some questions I’m asking the Lord this week: “What unhealthy inputs do I need to guard against? What truths should I keep close to improve my health?” May we be people who stay in sync with the Lord’s rhythms as we seek to live well and minister in a broken-hearted world.
~ Jen Hanson