Three years ago, a doctor at Mayo Clinic informed me that I needed to have heart surgery as soon as possible. Just a few weeks before that, during a medical exam on an unrelated matter, a heart murmur had been detected.
How's your heart?
The writer to the Hebrews issued an important warning to Christians: "See to it, brothers, that none of you has a sinful, unbelieving heart that turns away from the living God. But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called Today, so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness" (Hebrews 3:12-13).
Sin (disobedience to God) is a source of spiritually hardening of one's heart. Once a person says no to God and to His ways, and yes to sin, it can be easier to do it again and again. Sinning makes one less sensitive to God and the leading of His Holy Spirit.
Just as a number of tests were run to check out my heart, the Bible encourages us to have a spiritual check up.
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King David prayed: "Test me, O Lord, and try me, examine my heart and my mind; for Your love is ever before me, and I walk continually in Your truth" (Psalm 26:2-3). "Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting" (Psalm 139:23-24).
What we eat affects our physical health, and sometimes I struggle with eating the best healthy foods. In a similar way, we need to develop healthy spiritual practices. What we put into our minds has an affect on who we are and what our behavior will be.
We need to be selective concerning what we think about. And just as one of the keys to being physically healthy is to exercise with others — to help motivate and move us forward — so too for spiritual health. We need to build Christian relationships that encourage and nurture us.
What is your heart's condition? As my heart needed surgery, spiritually our hearts may need special attention. God desires for each of us to have a heart that is open and sensitive to Him. And if that is not the current condition of our hearts, God stands with arms wide open to welcome us to a close and rich relationship with Him through trusting faith in Jesus Christ.
