Hidden and Protected

        Proverbs 4:23 “Watch over your heart with all diligence for from it flows the wellsprings of life.”

The heart is an amazing pear shaped structure located in the center of the chest wall between the lungs and hidden deep behind our breastplate. It beats 100,000 times a day, pumping about 2,000 gallons of blood. This vital organ has an arduous task and must be well taken care of through diet and exercise.  If not carefully monitored, cholesterol will form an accumulation of plaque on the blood vessel walls, impeding blood flow to the heart and other organs.

Although the spiritual heart is hidden and protected by Jesus Christ; we care for it in two major ways,

1.           Eating a steady diet of God’s Word.  It nourishes our hungry souls.  Jeremiah 15:16

2.         Exercise our faith, every time we pray and believe “things impossible with men are possible with God.”

When we practice these spiritual disciplines, our spiritual heart beats in rhythm with the Spirit of the Living God.

We daily ask the Lord to search our hearts for any sin we may need to confess.  Just like the cholesterol in our arteries,  unconfessed sin can up within the walls of our spiritual heart.  Sin impedes the flow of our prayer life, based upon Psalm 66:18:

“If I regard sin in my heart, the Lord will not hear my prayer.”

Our heart’s resting rate is 60-100 beats per minute.  Our spiritual hearts need rest as well.  God has ordained for us:

*           “Rest given from the Lord.”  Hebrews 4:9  

*           “Be still and know that He is God”, Psalm 46:10

*            “Cast our anxieties upon Him. 1 Peter 5:7

*           “Peace that passes all understanding. Philippians 4:7

Although our troubles will not instantly dissipate; because Jesus said, “In this world you will have trouble,” the peace of Christ will rule and reign in our hearts.  Our hearts truly are hidden and protected.