I am in the season of life where heart disease is lurking behind every doctor's visit. If you somehow manage to stay vertical until a certain age, heart disease becomes a greater possibility with each passing day. There is some heart disease in my family, but not much. Our family is either headed down the path of implosion or living until mushrooms begin growing out our ears. One of my brothers has electrical issues with his heart, and my other brother refuses to acknowledge he is anything but in perfect health. One thing is certain--
we don't get out of this alive
Heart disease is called the silent killer. My entire family does have elevated cholesterol levels. My two brothers take medication to keep those levels down. I prefer to use more natural remedies. I have eaten enough chicken and turkey to grow feathers and lay eggs. That old BAD cholesterol causes our arteries to harden and stop up. The water hose works best if not hardened by the sun until it becomes brittle and inflexible. So it goes with our arteries. As those arteries harden, our heart muscle is affected. The muscle begins to thicken and lose its flexibility and this hinders its ability to pump efficiently. One of the markers your heart doc is looking for is how efficiently your heart is working. Hard hearts are a detriment to our longevity and quality of life.
When we refuse to eat right, exercise, rest, and all those other healthy living habits, our body pays the cost. Our kidneys fail, livers refuse to work, lungs go on strike and our heart hardens with each and every unhealthy choice. We are totally in control of how much risk we are willing to tolerate when it comes to the health of our heart and bodies. A hard heart and arteries do not bode well for long lives.
God's word also addresses our heart. This heart is our spiritual center, not the physical heart we talked of above. While searching the WWW, I found this ~
Interesting, but why would man allow his heart to become hardened?
I often talk about why we act or react as we do. We are products of our history and our gene pool. When we have been hurt, it is human nature to protect our hearts from more pain. Instead of following the path to redemption of the cause of our pain, we react without considering the cause. Over time, our hearts begin to harden as we chose to react instead of seeking the cause for our actions. Our hearts become hardened when we are unwilling to practice the healthy habits necessary to keep them operating at peak capacity. When we are in The Word, in prayer, living in community of fellow Believers, confessing our sinful ways, and seeking His path in our day to day life, we are living healthy spiritual lives. The consequences of seeking God first is a soft heart which is pliable and open to following the path He places before us. May we all seek Him with all our heart and guard our hearts so that they may be open to His prompting.
"Guard your heart above all else,
for it determines the course of your life."
Proverbs 4:23
May our hearts never harden, but be ever pliable to the Savior's touch. Beautiful post, Lulu!
ReplyDeleteI greatly appreciate that quote from SeedBed. 'Wish I'd known that years ago; it might have helped me see hard-hearted people with more grace-filled eyes. With you I pray: May I seek You, Lord, with all my heart and guard my heart so I'm open to Your prompting. Thank you, Lulu!
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