The Heart of the Matter
Posted: 11/6/2019
Love the Lord your God with all your heart … and love your neighbor as yourself. (Luke 10:27)
When the phone rang, I could hardly understand my sister’s frantic words. Sobbing uncontrollably, she shouted, “Danny had a heart attack last night! The doctors don’t know if he’s going to make it!” In shock, I said, “I am leaving now and will be praying all the way there!”
As I drove to the hospital, my emotions ran the gamut: disbelief, fear, and confusion. But then I was overcome with peace.
The man with a threatened heart was a man who lived after “God’s own heart.” He had dedicated his life to helping others know the love of God, and if it was his time, his heart was definitely, as they say, in the right place.
Sitting in the waiting room, I began to reflect on the heart. What an amazing organ, truly the most important in the human body. It keeps life-giving blood flowing and is the body’s on-off switch.
As I thought about the significance of the heart, God began to speak to me about the reality of its other function. Our heart has a spiritual component as the seat of our affections and the residence of our soul. We are to love God with all our heart.
When I began to look for spiritual heartbeats, they were everywhere. I saw my sister’s beautiful heart as she sat by the bedside of her sedated husband, holding his hand and talking to him. Doctors and nurses demonstrated kind hearts with their care, and friends revealed passionate, believing hearts as they prayed for Danny’s recovery.
Seeing all these expressions of the heart reminded me that our physical heart really only functions to allow us to receive true life through God’s love.
I will never forget the day my sister and I walked into the room and Danny was awake. What a miracle! His heart was healing and he was getting stronger. This experience strengthened all of us and made us aware that, as critical as the physical heart is, it’s the heart filled with God’s love that makes life really matter.
Dear Heavenly Father, May I never forget how important it is to having a loving heart. And may I always be reminded of Your heart of love for me. Amen.
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