Have you listened to your heart recently? I’m referring not to the emotional interpretation of that question but the literal one. If you haven’t heard your own heart beat, go out and buy a stethoscope at a medical supply store and have a listen. Better yet, get an echocardiogram and watch your heart beating. It may change your whole perspective about how you live.
Of all the functions of our bodies we take for granted, our hearts may be at the top of the list. Unless something goes wrong with them, we get up, go through the day, and go to sleep without ever thinking about what our hearts do for us. When the psalmist wrote, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14), he may have been thinking about his heart.
This eight-ounce wonder in the center of my chest (not on the left side, as some think) has been carrying out its obligation of pumping my blood for over 60 years, with no help from me, thank you very much. Like others, I have not always been kind to this trustworthy companion. I’ve spent too many days of sedentary living, eaten far more saturated fat than needed, and stayed up late with insufficient sleep more times than I care to admit. Still, my heart has done its best to keep going; although, as I get older, it feels compelled to begin complaining just a bit (see my post about atrial fibrillation).
Have you ever wondered how the heart came to be viewed as the seat of our most positive emotions (love, compassion, deep satisfaction)? Even Jesus put the heart first in His definition of the “Greatest Commandment” (Mark 12:29-31). Even when no echocardiograms were available to awe people at the miracle of the human heart, someone realized that this organ warranted special status. “Follow your heart.” “Do what your heart tells you.” “He has broken my heart.” Try substituting “liver” or “stomach” for “heart” in any of those statements, and you’ll see what I mean.
If you can find no other reason to believe in God and trust Him for the guidance of your life, consider your heart. Could any human intellect or mechanical skill develop such an amazing instrument? God is our King of Hearts. One day, He will send a signal to our hearts; and, as amazingly as they started beating, they will stop. We have no say about when our hearts start or stop, only what we do with our lives in between. Each heart beat is a reminder that God is with us and for us each day, and I believe that with all my heart.
Years Full of Grace 