Ch. 12 - Life With a Well-ordered Heart - (Developing Your Own “Rule of Life”)

 It was almost 13 years ago when my dad had his heart attack. He was gone there for a minute or two, but the good doctors brought him back. It is quite unsettling to see your dad of 47 years of age have a heart attack.  He made some lifestyle changes and is in much better health now. However, the age of 47 is fast approaching for me. I can count it down on one hand. With a family of five to take care of, I think about the health of my heart a lot more than I did 5 or 10 years ago. I thought when I hit 40, I’d make some diet changes and get in the best shape of my life, but that didn’t happen. Then 41 came and went, and I still haven’t made the changes to my health that I want to. What am I waiting for? I don’t know. I’d like to think that 42 will be different. I want it to be. I need it to be. But will it?

 The condition of our physical hearts is obviously important.  If we neglect it, we run the risk of a heart attack and death. However, what about our spiritual hearts?  What happens when we neglect it?  Do we run the risk of a spiritual heart attack? Oh yes we do!  It's what the Bible calls a hard heart. Some symptoms of a hard heart are: a lack of a willingness to forgive, a lack of giving, la ack of Christian fellowship (more than just church attendance), finding yourself angry often, a negative attitude (often criticizing), and finally an increase of sin in one’s life as opposed to a continual decrease. These are not all the symptoms, but these should be major warning signs that the spiritual condition of your heart is in jeopardy of a cardiac arrest.

 If you have any of these symptoms, then you need to read this week’s chapter by Ortberg, The Well Ordered Heart. However, I would venture to say you if you have very many of these symptoms then haven’t been practicing these spiritual disciplines laid out in this book. You can’t just read this blog or the book and not put it to into practice. You can’t just attend church and read the Bible and not put it into practice. Just reading won’t help your heart anymore than reading a health and fitness magazine will help the health of your physical heart.

 1 Timothy 4:7b-8 (NIV) - train yourself to be godly. ⁸ “Physical training is good, but training for godliness is much better, promising benefits in this life and in the life to come.”

 Now that I am approaching that “heart attack age” I have more of urgency than ever to do something about my physical heart health.  But I’ll admit, sometimes I have neglected my physical health at the expense of keeping my spiritual heart healthy. You see, the consequences of a physical heart attack are death and while that would be sad for my family, ultimately it means I get to see Jesus and begin my eternal life. Conversely, if not treated, the consequences of a spiritual heart attack are eternal!!! Therefore, you might be able to wait until after the holidays to get back in physical health, but don’t let another moment go by without dealing with your spiritual heart health. Remember, God’s plan to deal with your heart is pretty amazing: Ezekiel 11:19^(NIV) says,  “ I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh”. Basically, what God does when we accept Jesus Christ as our Savior and we commit our lives to follow him, He gives us a heart transplant. And it’s not just any old heart.  He actually replaces our old crappy corrupted heart with His Heart. However, we must take great care of this heart!

In this chapter, Ortberg reminds us that we need a plan for taking care of our spiritual heart health. “In a sense, each of us chooses a “spiritual strategy” whether or not we are intentional about it. We can choose by default" (p.205). 

How have you chosen?

Be Intentional - PJ