Tuesday, February 14, 2012

The Condition of The Heart

The way to love anything is to realize that it may be lost. ~G.K. Chesterton




In honor of Valentines Day it is only fitting for me to post something regarding hearts. It's not going to be the typical lovey dovey romantic story or even a sarcastically humorous venting session. One year ago today I was running ragged with two teeny tiny tots strapped to my hips losing my mind trying to keep up with them and the house and the dog and my job. Cruz had some valentine hearts that he became obsessed with. They were very special to him. The little tiny hearts with the comments barely written across the tops that make you sometimes ask, 'seriously? who wrote this? He would carry them everywhere. His little sweaty dirty hands would make those hearts just moist enough to collect pieces from anything it came in contact with. Any lint, hair, dust, you name it. It was disgusting. He would drop it on the floor and I would jump leap and fly through the air in dramatic fashion to try to pry it from him before he placed it right back into his mouth. At times I succeeded but many times I failed. Franklin would walk past him and the heart would just stick to his tail. Or even worse, Cruz would hold the heart out in his hand and let Franklin lick it! For those of you asking, 'where was the mother during this' just know I was close enough to see and close enough to yell stop but not close enough to catch it. All I could think of were the germs and the nasty texture that it must create when he put it back in his mouth. I kept asking him to give it to me, to trust me, to let me wash it off in the sink and that I'd give it back, or get him a new one. He had a very difficult time letting go. He wanted to trust me, he just really struggled with it. Each time I would rinse it, that little heart would get smaller and smaller. Each time Frank licked it it would get smaller. I would tell him, 'Cruz, be careful, your little heart is getting dirty. Let me take care of your heart so you don't drop it. Don't lose your heart'. Poor Frank, he didn't know. He had no bad intentions but a kid was letting him lick candy so of course he did. I would yell at Frank and to Cruz "Stop it, he's going to destroy your heart". The words resonated like a familiar song in my head. I said them all back again. I shared the story later that day with a group of high school girls, who inevitably saw the amazing correlation. So, I now pose the question to you. What is it that you are allowing to come in contact with your tiny precious little heart. Don't you value your unique one of a kind heart? What are things in your life that you are allowing to damage you. It may be an unhealthy relationship, it may be an addiction, it may be a group of friends, or bad television, it could be anything. On this Valentines Day, please take some time to evaluate the condition of your heart. Don't be careless with it, for from it springs the well of life. Don't allow others to take advantage of it, you only have one. Value it, treasure it, and share it with people when their heart is broken. And guard it with all your might.





1 comment:

  1. Loved the article on Condition of the Heart!
    Thought this information goes with it!

    Contemporary people generally consider the head with its brain to be the center and director of human activity. However, the Bible speaks of the heart as the center, “it is the wellspring of life” (Pr4:23; Lk 6:45). When the Bible speaks of the “heart,” it is not referring to our physical organ that pumps blood throughout our body. Rather, the “heart” as used in the bible is spiritual language that encompasses the totality of one’s intellect, emotion and volition, sometimes it seems almost to be a synonym of the human spirit. (Volition means making a choice or decision)

    The heart is a knowledge faculty: people know things in their heart (Dt 8:5), pray in their heart (1Sa 1:12-13), meditate in their heart(Ps 119:11), devise plans in their heart (Ps 140:20, keep words in their heart (Pr 4:21), think in their heart (Mk2:8), doubt in their heart (Mk 11:23), ponder in their heart (Lk2:19), believe in their heart (Ro 10:9), and sing in their heart (Eph 5:19). All of these actions of the heart are primarily issues involving the inner knowing.

    The heart is also the center of feeling. The Bible speaks about the glad heart (Ex 4:14), the loving heart (Dt6:5), the fearful heart (Jos 5:1), the courageous heart (Ps 27:14), the repentant heart (Ps 51:17), the anxious heart (Pr 12:25), the angry heart (Pr 19:3), the revived heart (Isa 57:15), the anguished heart (Jer 4:19, Ro 9:2), the delighted heart (Jer15:16), the grieving heart (La 2:18), the humble heart (Mt 11:290, the excited or burning heart (Lk 24:32), and the troubled heart (Jn 14:1). All of these actions of the heart primarily involve feeling.

    Finally, the heart is the center of the volitional activity. We read in scripture about the hardened heart that refuses to do what God commands (Ex 4:21), the heart that is yielded to God (Jos 24:23), the heart that intends to do something (2Ch 6:7), the heart that is devoted to seeking the Lord (1Ch 22:19), the heart that decides (2Ch 6:7), the heart that desires to receive from the Lord(Ps 21: 1-2), the heart that is turned toward God’s statutes (Ps 119:36) and the heart that wants to do something (Ro 10:1). All of these activities take place in the human will.

    THE NATURE OF THE HEART APART FROM GOD:
    When Adam and Eve chose to follow the serpent’s temptation to eat from the tree of knowledge of good and evil, their decision drastically affected the human heart—it became tainted with evil. At present, therefore according to Jeremiah’s testimony, “The heart is deceitful above all things and beyond cure. Jesus taught about the seriousness fo sin in the heart when he said that the sin of anger is tantamount to murder (Mt 5:21-22) and the sin of lust is just as sinful as actual adultery (Mt 5:27-28). Hearts that are committed to doing evil run the grave risk of becoming hardened.

    THE REGENERATED HEART:
    God’s answer to the sinfulness of the human heart is regeneration, which comes to all who repent of their sins, turn to God and place a faith in Jesus as Lord and savior. Regeneration is a matter of the heart. Those who repent from their heart of all sin and confess in their heart that Jesus is Lord (Ro 10:9) are born again and receive a new heart from God.
    Jesus taught that love for God with the whole heart and love for one’s neighbor summarize God’e entire law (Mt22:37-40). Regenerated believer’s praise God with all their heart (ps 9:1), meditate in their heart (ps19:140, cry out to God from their heart(Ps84:20, seek God with all their heart (ps 119:2, 10), hide God’s word in their heart(ps 119:11), trust in the lord with all their heart (Pr 3:5)and experience God’s love poured into their heart (Ro 5:5).

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