For good health, it is vital to have a non-diseased, normal-functioning heart… free of artery hardening and plaque build-up. The heart tissue needs to be healthy and viable with a good flow of non-obstructed arteries supplying blood. The cells need to be properly nourished.
For good health, the biological heart and the inner soul-heart both need to be soft, pliable, and thriving… not hard or scarred or damaged. Hard-heartedness is toxic for good health.
“I will give you a new heart… I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh” (Ezekiel 36:26).
The last two years have been hard on human hearts. Dissension, strife, disease, death, differing opinions, angry social media posts… and so much more. The end result? We wonder who to trust, who to listen to, who to let into the inner sanctum known as the heart.
When I spend quiet time with God in the morning, I keep feeling led to go back to the heart. Heart health.
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life” (Proverbs 4:23).
One version says, “Guard your heart above all else…”
We recently had a large stump removed from our yard. The machinery used did a great job but left ruts in the ground. Now I have a stump-free yard full of ridges and furrows. It’s better now without the stump (and the surrounding mound of earth that seemed to be the focal point of the front yard). However, I have been pondering how to smooth out the rutty ridges and furrows without totally destroying my yard.
“You visit the earth and water it… The river of God is full of water… You water its ridges abundantly, You settle its furrows; You make it soft with showers…” (Psalms 65:9-10).
Along with normal rainfall, I will water the ridges and furrows in my yard profusely to soften the underlying soil and root system in hopes that water and time will smooth out the ruts.
I will water and nourish my biological heart by staying well-hydrated with water, eating a diet consisting of lots of plants, and getting regular exercise.
I will continue to water my inner heart, my soul heart, with regular times of intimate fellowship with God, experiencing His emotions (through worship, meditating on scripture, prayer) and regularly interacting with people in church, at work, and in the neighborhood… loving and forgiving… serving and blessing….especially when I don’t feel like it and when I don’t want to. Acting on the Lord’s inner promptings has yielded freedom and healing for me in the past.
I need some heart scars healed. We all do. I need some heart ridges and furrows made soft and smooth and pliable once again. We all do. The river of God is a good place to start. The Lord is restoring my ability to trust and be vulnerable again. I trust Him. I will follow His lead.
