Heart Condition

Good Monday morning! I know that the beginning of the work week can be a challenge, so I hope yours is off to a reasonable start.

"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." --Ezekiel 36:26

Pastor Sam preached around this verse yesterday, and it stuck with me throughout the night and into the morning. One thing that this blog has helped me to do is to constantly examine the state of my heart, mostly in the way I respond to people and situations. I have lived most of my life with what Sam would call a "hard heart"--one that is empty of the Spirit and filled instead with sin. The heart must be preciously guarded and cared for on a daily basis, for both our physical and spiritual health. And left unattended, it will harden and grow cold--if we eat a poor diet and don't exercise, our arteries will harden, and if we omit the Spirit from our daily life, the love and compassion that should fill our heart will be overtaken by anger, sarcasm, judgment, etc.

I am looking at my heart condition today. Am I letting God fill my heart up throughout the day? Do I respond to people with patience and kindness? When they see me today, what will the condition of my heart look like to them?

We are built around our hearts, as per God's plan--it is worth guarding and protecting.

Today's challenge: Examine the state of your heart, both physically and spiritually. Treat it well in the way that you eat and exercise today. And ask God to renew it so that you may respond to others today with kindness and compassion.