The NUMBER ONE killer of humans--men and women----is heart disease. It is not just isolated to the United States--this is #1 in the entire world. We spend untold dollars and time--chasing the latest preventives. There is an entire sub-culture who take handfuls of vitamins and supplements every day in a quest to prolong their lives. The Y is FULL of people--MANY of them NOT Spring Chickens working out--trying to keep those arteries clear and that heart pumping. A new diet comes along every day to ensure a long life free of heart disease. These are all well and good--but the truth of the matter is that our genetic make-up plays a vital role in the probability of suffering from heart disease. The one thing we cannot do anything about---perhaps plays the most crucial role in the chances of suffering ischamic heart disease. None of us want our heart to be broken though.
There is also heartbreak of an entirely different kind--our emotional heart. I would dare say --if your heart is beating---and you are alive and warm--at some point in your life something has broken your heart. Loss of a loved one, loss of your favorite puppy/cat, dreams unfulfilled, and the list could go on. Unless you live in an emotional vacuum---your heart has been broken. None of us want our heart broken.
This past Sunday I was reminded of another fatal heart disease---an eternally fatal disease. "Hard hearts develop over time and destroy in a moment." We were reminded as God listened to the Israelites whine and complain---never being content---always desiring more than what was necessary===when God had enough---he did not allow an entire generation to enter the Promised Land. In the blink of an eye---in a moment---God finally says "ENOUGH!" The slow progression of the disease is not unlike physical heart disease, we heap disobedience upon disobedience until our lifeline to God is fatally blocked and then the "heart attack" of a hard heart happens---when God speaks, "Enough." None of us want our heart to harden--shrivel up and disappear.
The key to not suffering from physical heart disease is working to prevent it from the beginning. God has provided the preventive tools for our spiritual hearts--we do not have to suffer and die from "Hard Heart Disease". We can finish well---under the wings of His grace. The primary tool of prevention---"Looking up." If He speaks---to us or through other believers ---LISTEN--be intentional in seeking Him. He also places other Believers in our lives for a purpose. Find someone who will speak truth to you---hold your feet to the fire---keep you accountable. Without someone in our lives to hold us accountable---A Godly Partner---it is too easy to fall away---to convince ourselves we are OK. Keep someone in your life to fill this role and in likewise fashion---be an encourager for those in your life. He made us to be in community---and for a good reason---we are frail and weak and live in a fallen world---We need the help.
It is so sad to loose our good health to heart disease---it is also unbelievably painful to have our heart broken---but how truly tragic--beyond words---to have our heart harden. There could be no worse heart disease - and always preventable if only--
"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 be call Today, so that none of you may be
hardened by sin's deceitfulness.
Hebrews 3:12-13
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