Heart Health and Purity
Our heart is responsible for keeping every one of our organs in shape. This means that complications with the heart can be felt all over the body. An unhealthy heart may manifest in our respiratory system, our extremities, and our digestive system. People of all ages and lifestyles can make small changes in our lives to reduce our risk of heart disease. The American Heart Association recommends the following changes to better our heart health: stop tobacco consumption, increase physical activity, eat a diet rich in fruits and vegetables, reduce alcohol consumption, and minimize stress.
Likewise, a healthy "heart" is key to our overall spiritual health. The health of our spiritual heart for God impacts literally every other aspect of our spiritual lives.
We must nourish it: "I have hidden your word in my heart that I might not sin against you" (Psalm 119:11, NIV).
We must keep it clean: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me" (Psalm 51:10, NIV).
We must protect it: "Keep your heart with all vigilance, for from it flow the springs of life" (Proverbs 4:23, ESV).
Why?
Because, "The aim of our charge is love that issues from a pure heart and a good conscience and a sincere faith" (1 Timothy 1:15, ESV).
Can A Man Walk On Hot Coals ....
Perhaps you heard about the 30 “followers of motivational speaker Tony Robbins” who “were burned while walking on hot coals” in Dallas, Texas (nbcnews.com). Mr. Robbins should have heeded Solomon, who wrote, “Or can a man walk on hot coals and his feet not be scorched?” (Proverbs 6:28).
This statement comes as part of Solomon’s warning about “the evil woman” and the “adulteress” (cf. 6:24). He warns about her alluring beauty and ways (25), showing the consequences that one may miss when driven by lust rather than law: one is reduced (26), destroyed (32), wounded and disgraced (33), reproached (33), and repaid with revenge (34).
One of Solomon’s two metaphors to depict adultery’s repercussions is feet being burned by walking on hot coals (the other is taking fire in his bosom and his clothes being burned).
Countless men and women have been deceived by the seemingly harmless effects of allowing attraction for someone other than their mate to grow in their hearts and minds. One may let admiration and attraction for this other person to take root in their hearts. Defenses are lowered and lines begin to be crossed. The thrill and excitement of the prospective relationship can come to eclipse rational thoughts about the negative consequences, and the fallout in the lives of all the people affected.
When David gazed at Bathsheba from his rooftop, he saw a beautiful, naked woman rather than murder, death, humiliation, dysfunction, loss of influence, and agonizing heartbreak. His unlawful desire for her prevented him from seeing past what he wanted in the moment.
God’s laws are immutable. One cannot flout them without the fruit that follows. So many who have crossed that line have desperately wished they could go back to the other side of that firebed and taken the righteous path. May each of us have the wisdom to see that pursuing a person who is not your lawful mate is like playing with fire! Don’t get burned.
The Sex Exposure Calculator
Harry Readhead, reporting for METRO, writes:
A new calculator will tell you how many sexual partners you’ve been indirectly exposed to.
For instance, if you have had nine lovers – that’s the average in the UK – and your other half has had the same, you have been indirectly exposed to 597,870 individuals.
That’s the population of Belfast.
The Sexual Exposure and STI Risk Calculator also tells you your risk of catching gonorrhoea, syphilis and chlamydia.
This adds new meaning to the expression “getting more than you bargained for.” By contrast, only those who follow God’s prescription and wait to become sexually active until they’ve found their life partner, protect themselves from exposure to these diseases. In effect, they reduce that risk to zero percent! What a wonderful gift for a couple to exchange on their wedding day.
But the negative effects of multiple sex partners are not limited to the transmission of STDs. Casual attitudes toward sex tend to be translated into casual attitudes toward marital commitment, which serves to undermine the security and health of the relationship.
Yes, God’s will for marriage requires us to delay our sexual gratifications. But God doesn’t set forth these expectations to harm us. Rather, His desire is to protect us from what He knows would cause us, and our future spouse, harm.
“If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father's commands and remain in his love” (John 15:10).