Check-Up

As I have mentioned in a previous blog, our entire family was sick for a week in March. Arrogantly, I had commented to someone a few weeks earlier that our family had avoided being sick during the winter months…I even knocked on wood when I said it, but the flu made an unwanted visit to our home. The thing I hate about being sick is that it usually comes without warning and leaves no time to rearrange schedules. One day I was feeling fine and the next day I was in the doctor’s office reading a fishing magazine! I’m not sure about you, but when I get sick I’ll do anything to feel better, including going to the doctor, taking medications whose names I cannot pronounce, and shelling out insane amounts of money. No one wants to be sick but I assume most individuals would go to great efforts to be made well. The question must be asked: “Why will we take any measure necessary to secure physical health but ignore our spiritual health?” There is a writing in the book of Proverbs which says “keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” The writer is giving a warning to guard the heart (the center of all our passions and desires) because the things we allow to captivate it will be reflected in our attitudes and actions. If the heart and mind are being saturated with the ideologies and philosophies of the world, improper attitudes and actions will follow. In case you are misunderstanding the value system of the world, the Apostle John gives us a solid definition of the world‘s character: lust of the flesh (desire for evil), lust of the eyes (unquenchable passion to have more), and the pride of life (thinking highly of self). If you are like me, I get caught up in the world’s system quite a bit, sometimes without even recognizing it. I find myself drawn to evil, wanting more, and thinking I‘ve got it all figured out when in reality I have failed to guard my heart. How do I guard my heart? Well, I’m kind of old-school on this stuff but I firmly believe we guard our hearts through reading Scripture, meditating on it, and surrendering to God by talking to Him (Psalm 1). When we make the Bible a regular part of our routine, it allows us to understand truth and righteousness. When Paul writes to Timothy he reminds him that all Scripture is beneficial for doctrine (what is right), for reproof (what is wrong), for correction (how to get it right), and instruction in righteousness (how to keep it right). The writer James compares the Bible to a mirror which exposes the true health of our soul (James 1:21-27). As the Bible reveals the truth about our spiritual health, we must learn to surrender our selfish desires in order to follow God’s ways – the two cannot co-exist. The discipline of prayer is evidence that we are completely dependent on God and an admission that we cannot do life on our own. Maybe it is time for a spiritual check-up…