WATCHWORD:
Create in us a clean heart oh God, and renew a right spirit within us! Psalm 51:10
But the wisdom that comes from heaven is first of all pure; then peace-loving, considerate, submissive, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. Peacemakers who sow in peace reap a harvest of righteousness. James 3:17-18
Meditation:
A Clean Heart
“Heart surgery.” Those two words echoed in my mind long after my travel home ended. Heart surgery, and I visualized what that could mean. I was not reassured. My heart difficulties had been going on for more than a year. I had been prescribed medications, but they had not done their job. And now we are up to Plan B; heart surgery.
Maybe in desperation, I broadened my knowledge of the heart. I learned that the heart was more than just emotions and affections, it was the center of life for each one of us. Without an effective beating heart, blood would not flow, it would not become oxygenated, and that would affect our thinking, even our praying. The heart is far more than we think it is.
Oswald Chambers said this about the heart: “The biblical term ‘heart’ is best understood if we simply say ‘me’. It is the central citadel of a person’s personality. The heart is the altar of which the physical body is the outer court, and whatever is offered on the altar of the heart will tell ultimately through the extremities of the body.”
On day #1, the day of the surgery, I could not walk more than 25 feet without difficulty breathing, and an accelerated heart beat. Six hours after surgery. I was informed that they needed to move me out of ICU into another room. “Do you think you could walk,” the nurse asked me, “It’s just across the hall, and we don’t have a wheelchair available.” “I can try,” I said.
We started out, I was doing fine. As it turned out, “the hall” where my new room was located on another hall, more than 300 feet from the ICU! Halfway there, I stopped, out of habit, not out of need. The nurse asked, “Why did you stop?” I told her out of ingrained habit. My breathing was fine, my heart was normal. It slowly began to dawn on me that all this had been planned, and my nurse and my doctor were pleased. A hospital without a wheelchair available? Please!
The Bible informs us that the heart is a critical center of life which touches and impacts all that we are and all that we do. I can testify to the physical part of that, and I continue to learn about the spiritual side. It’s amazing what oxygenated blood can do to the thought processes, the prayer focus, and physical activities. The spiritual side of ‘heart surgery’ is like an answer to David’s prayer: Create in us a clean heart. Through a “clean” and functioning heart there is a sense of peace that draws us much closer to the Lord.
I went through Cardiac Rehab, and I continue to work out at the fitness center. I have been advised to take my blood pressure and my pulse regularly, and I try to do that. But here is a piece that goes beyond what medical experts tell us; each and every day we also need to listen to our spiritual heart. We need to listen to see if our thoughts and behaviors are lining up with God’s will for our lives. In short, we need to keep our heart focused on God.
— Stan
A Thought for the Day:
One little sin, what harm could it do?
Give it free reign and soon there are two.
Then sinful deeds and habits ensue –
Guard well your thoughts, lest they control you.
Praying Psalm 139:23 and Psalm 51:10b:
Search me, O God, and know my heart, and renew a right spirit within me. Amen.
