As I was preparing to write this segment in this series, I stopped to think about how often I receive information about what is good for my heart. Many items I pass by and some I purchase at the grocery store are labeled as heart-healthy. I recently saw where Cheerios changed their shape into tiny hearts to remind us of their role in helping our hearts battle the sworn enemy of cholesterol. We are frequently educated through various mediums about superfoods and supplements like Omega 3’s that aid us in protecting our hearts. Most folks know their cholesterol numbers, and terms like HDL and LDL have become familiar topics of health conversation. A whole generation of folks working out in gyms now knows what their target heart rate is compared to their predecessors, where a hard workout was measured by time and sweat. We have become what I like to refer to as heart savvy as a culture. We use the heart as a reference to convey many messages that express the depth of our emotions.
Most of us, at some point, have said that our hearts have bled for others, known folks who have had a heart of gold and who among us hasn’t experienced a broken heart. We pursue issues that bring challenges as we attempt to follow our hearts, and if we fail to find it, we can be found eating our hearts out over the dismay. Our hearts are described as being as mobile as our hearts go out to others or often either sink at bad news or come to our throats during anxious times. They stay put when we proclaim the heart to be in the right place. We wear them on our sleeves or lose them from discouragement. Our hearts are referenced regarding our motives as we set our hearts on things or likewise set it against things. We measure commitment by heartfelt measures by expressing it from the bottom of our hearts, hardening our hearts, or if we are too fearful of following through with commitments, we are said to be faint of heart. But today, we will look to scripture because it will, as the idiom goes.do our hearts good.
The Lord God has been in the cardiac business long before the 13th or 14th century when the heart began to be recognized as a romantic or symbol of passion. God, who as our creator, placed man’s heart in the human body, to begin with, and filled created lungs with divine air. Only then did the human heart begin to beat, and God initiated a relationship with Adam and Eve that, through His great love, always had their best interests at heart. God’s heart was set on me from the beginning, and He has wanted me to be a person after His own heart. This is how He described King David as a man after God’s own heart. That is quite a proclamation from the ultimate cardiologist in the universe. So when God issued the instructions in the Shema in Deuteronomy, He started at the very heart of the matter, no pun intended.
First, God calls the Israelites into a one-on-one relationship. He calls them away from idols, and spiritual infidelity as the nations around them worshipped many gods, and Israel, often like me, submits to peer pressure. After this call to worship, God puts the heart as the priority of instruction. Note that soul and strength come after this. God knows for folks to experience the fullness of all He has promised us, our heart must first be surrendered to Him. God wants us to experience relationships, intimacy, and wholeness with Him. Mere religion and ritual will not suffice. God addresses this in other scriptures. God told Isaiah the prophet that “these people draw near to me with their mouths, honor me with their lips, yet have removed their hearts far from me. What does it mean for me to love the Lord God with all my heart? It means I can not approach a Holy God with halfheartedness. There can be no part that I hold back for myself. No secret chamber is reserved for my agenda or will. There cannot be a portion that is more committed to other people or things. To love God with my whole heart is more than an obligation. It is passion and affection. This can only occur when I accept Christ’s great love for me. Without Christ as the advocate between my selfish heart and God, I could never draw near to His heart. On my own, there is no reserve of human love that can be trumped up for me to love God. Love is not a human idea but is the very character of God, Himself. When I surrender myself to His all-encompassing love for me, I am filled with love and gratitude for Him. This is the only cycle that will result in intimacy and a deep love for God. I must allow Him to transplant a transformed heart in me that can relate to Him and have the capacity to love and desire Him. Otherwise, the spiritual heart I came into this world with will experience failure and ultimate death without the heart health Christ offers.
Because I want to grow ever deeper in my walk of faith, I have to undergo a check-up from time to time. I do this through scriptures concerning the love God has for me. I have to pray and ask myself, “Do I still believe this? Am I still basking and resting on the promised and delivered love of the Lord, or have I developed cardiac trouble like doubt, hard-heartedness brought on by disappointment and discouragement.? Have I allowed my affections to be occupied by more immediate shallow gratification like materialism or self-indulgent activities? If something or someone has taken over first place, I need to realign my priorities. In a relationship like marriage or even a friendship, sometimes when our affection wanes, we need time away to reacquaint and be reminded of the relationship we have shared in the past.
Sometimes we need a coming away with God, a retreat, or a few days away from the hustle and busyness of daily life. This can be done for me at home. I can stop projects, not take phone calls, cease from service activities, and just read scripture, play my piano, etc. A brief devotional a day will not sustain my heart for the enduring race it must run in this life. Taking time to put away all of the distractions can put me into a spiritual target heart rate, resulting in a renewed zest and energy for God and the things He loves. During this time, I must bare my heart before God. Tell Him out loud the things that have come between us, ask for forgiveness, I have even asked for hugs! I have come to recognize that if I don’t get my heart in the right place, the other things like trying to consecrate my soul and strength to the Father leaves my heart panting from exhaustion and empty and bereft.
It is hard in this world today not to have a heavy heart, but God can cure us who are sick at heart. He can melt them, cause them to leap, and help us take heart with His great power and Holiness. He is the expert at the affairs of our hearts and has said He stands at the door of my heart knocking. Oh, that I should open my heart to Him and answer His call.
Lord, today I pour out my heart to you with all that troubles me and things that strike fear in the deep places. Help me to set my heart on you alone. Thank you for your great love that set out to capture my heart and bring it back to you from the beginning. Let my heart be all in.
Come back where next time the 5 o’clock worker does some soul searching in the vineyard, as the series “All In: The Shema continues.
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