Your heart is vital
Last year, I had a heart scare.
I had spent the previous day weed eating and mowing grass, and I had trouble sleeping that night. My chest felt as if someone was sitting on it. The next day, the pain remained, but now I got winded walking up and down stairs.
After dealing with it all day long, Sara, my wife, decided it was time for me to go to the emergency room. I had, she said, all the signs of a heart attack.
So we eschewed Wednesday night youth (and my bus run) to spend the evening in ER. The doctors and nurses hooked me up to various machines, drew blood, ran tests and took chest X-rays. After several hours in the hospital, the doctor finally came in with a diagnosis. I didn't have a heart attack. In fact, my heart looked to be in great shape.
As it turns out, the weed eating part of the story is the most important. While using the weed eater, I apparently pulled my chest muscle. That's what caused the intense pain in my chest. On top of that, the pulled muscle was on top of my diaphragm - which caused the shortness of breath. I had a lot of trouble and panic over a lousy pulled muscle.
The real heart attack came when I found the doctor bill a few weeks later. (And that's just a joke...I think.)
I recall that story to make this point: We go through a lot of fuss to make sure the heart is protected and working fine.
Don't believe me? Check into the ER some time. I didn't wait in the lobby with everyone else. Within five minutes of signing in, I was whisked back to a room and already had several machines hooked up to my body. They didn't fool around with a heart issue.
Or maybe you can watch television. There are plenty of commercials for "heart healthy" foods and drugs.
When it comes to the heart, we don't take any chances. We want it to function properly.
That's because the heart is one of our most vital organs. If you heart stops, you die. If it's damaged, it causes severe problems. The heart is a crucial muscle in our body.
In scripture, the heart is symbolically used to describe our entire being. So when Paul writes in Ephesians 6 that we are to put on the breastplate of righteousness, he's talking about protecting our heart - our very soul and being - from spiritual attacks. He wants us to put godly thoughts, actions, images and words in our heart. If not, we become vulnerable to Satanic attacks. It's like going into battle without any chest protection.
The heart is just as vital to our spiritual well-being as it is to our physical well-being. If we corrupt our soul with ungodly images and influences, it gives Satan a foothold into our lives. It takes our focus off of Christ and puts it onto something else. And even though Jesus forgives our sin, Satan likes to remind us of it to get distracted from following God's direction.
Be careful what you watch, hear and see. Images and words never leave our minds. They can pollute your soul. Instead, protect your heart with righteousness.
I had spent the previous day weed eating and mowing grass, and I had trouble sleeping that night. My chest felt as if someone was sitting on it. The next day, the pain remained, but now I got winded walking up and down stairs.
After dealing with it all day long, Sara, my wife, decided it was time for me to go to the emergency room. I had, she said, all the signs of a heart attack.
So we eschewed Wednesday night youth (and my bus run) to spend the evening in ER. The doctors and nurses hooked me up to various machines, drew blood, ran tests and took chest X-rays. After several hours in the hospital, the doctor finally came in with a diagnosis. I didn't have a heart attack. In fact, my heart looked to be in great shape.
As it turns out, the weed eating part of the story is the most important. While using the weed eater, I apparently pulled my chest muscle. That's what caused the intense pain in my chest. On top of that, the pulled muscle was on top of my diaphragm - which caused the shortness of breath. I had a lot of trouble and panic over a lousy pulled muscle.
The real heart attack came when I found the doctor bill a few weeks later. (And that's just a joke...I think.)
I recall that story to make this point: We go through a lot of fuss to make sure the heart is protected and working fine.
Don't believe me? Check into the ER some time. I didn't wait in the lobby with everyone else. Within five minutes of signing in, I was whisked back to a room and already had several machines hooked up to my body. They didn't fool around with a heart issue.
Or maybe you can watch television. There are plenty of commercials for "heart healthy" foods and drugs.
When it comes to the heart, we don't take any chances. We want it to function properly.
That's because the heart is one of our most vital organs. If you heart stops, you die. If it's damaged, it causes severe problems. The heart is a crucial muscle in our body.
In scripture, the heart is symbolically used to describe our entire being. So when Paul writes in Ephesians 6 that we are to put on the breastplate of righteousness, he's talking about protecting our heart - our very soul and being - from spiritual attacks. He wants us to put godly thoughts, actions, images and words in our heart. If not, we become vulnerable to Satanic attacks. It's like going into battle without any chest protection.
The heart is just as vital to our spiritual well-being as it is to our physical well-being. If we corrupt our soul with ungodly images and influences, it gives Satan a foothold into our lives. It takes our focus off of Christ and puts it onto something else. And even though Jesus forgives our sin, Satan likes to remind us of it to get distracted from following God's direction.
Be careful what you watch, hear and see. Images and words never leave our minds. They can pollute your soul. Instead, protect your heart with righteousness.
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