Submitted by Andy McIlvain.
I have a heart problem…and so do you.
I work in healthcare. As a nurse, I am privileged to work with many gifted and talented doctors, nurses, office workers, and other healthcare professionals. I work with a gifted cardiologist. He begins his day by turning off the light in his office, turning on two monitors, and looking at videos of people’s echocardiograms.
An echocardiogram test uses sound waves to produce live images of one’s heart. This test allows your doctor to monitor how your heart and its valves are functioning, see blood clots, see fluid around the heart, and see problems with the main artery, the aorta.
Recently, I had an echo done. I and the cardiologist I work with went through all the video images. We watched as a contrast agent was injected and within seconds infiltrated my heart to show the blood flow. Our hearts are a work of wonder!
Neither the biological heart or the romantic heart is what the Bible typically means when it speaks of the heart. The Bible mentions the heart almost 1,000 times. When the Bible speaks of the heart, it is referring to that spiritual part of us where our emotions and desires dwell.
Just as the cardiologist looks for heart disease with an echocardiogram, our creator has searched and examined our spiritual heart and found it to be diseased. The Lord through the prophet Jeremiah declares: “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Who can understand it?” (Jeremiah 17:9) Jesus said, “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander” (Matthew 15:19).
If our vital organ is found to be diseased or malfunctioning, our cardiologist has many sophisticated remedies and procedures. But, we nor a cardiologist can repair our spiritual heart, only God can.
Following your heart has become a pop-culture creed for the world. Our culture tells us that our hearts are like compasses that will lead us to meaning and fulfillment in life. However, Proverbs 3:5-6 tells us not to lean on our own understanding (or follow our hearts). We are finite and limited, and we really know very little about our lives and the world around us. We see the world through a glass darkly (1 Corinthians 13:12). We simply cannot see or comprehend the ultimate reality that surrounds us – the secret things that belong to the Lord (Deuteronomy 29:29).
God wants to fix our hearts by setting our eyes on Jesus. 2 Peter 1:3 tells us, “His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness.”
Such interesting content…I never looked at that way.