Kris & his daughter Kori above the PacificHe was doing very well. In fact, by the looks of it, he was the epitome of a healthy middle-aged man. He used portion-control for his meals, stopped eating beef ages ago, and kept treats and sweets to a minimum. He walked almost daily; he even worked out at the gym periodically with his son. He liked to hike by the ocean, enjoying the serenity and peace he found with the undulating waves and the endless horizon on the Pacific. He was gainfully employed, and though as a pastor he carried burdens and had some situations that would produce stress, he turned these things over to the Lord. His family relationships were intact and brought him joy. Things were in a good place, until they weren’t.
My son, Kris, experienced his first chest pains after allowing himself the indulgence of eating bacon, an occasional delight. Thinking it might have been GI related, he didn’t consider it to be a problem, and he ignored it. But then, he began having those chest pains when taking a not-too-significant incline on one of his walks, and when it happened several times and began to be accompanied by a pain in the jaw, he knew he needed to be seen by a physician. A stress test determined that there indeed was a problem, and an angiogram was scheduled for about ten days later. When Kris started to experience the overwhelming pain and pressure while walking on level ground, he was immediately admitted to the hospital. In the first couple days he had several episodes of pain, and they decided to do the heart procedure within a day or two. Slowing his heart rate and monitoring him carefully kept him pain-free and stable. But the angiogram revealed the problem: Kris had a 95% blockage in one of his main arteries. The procedure included immediate insertion of a stent to undo the blockage. Fortunately, the heart itself did not suffer an attack, and while he will be on some medications likely for a lifetime and has to continue cardiologist visits periodically, he has been feeling fairly well, and the postoperative fatigue is subsiding. Praise the Lord for his love and care over Kris!
According to the American Heart Association, cardiovascular disease is the leading cause of death for both men and women in the US, killing over 700,000 Americans each year.* It is highly likely that having a grandmother and a great uncle with the same problem, Kris’ artery trouble is hereditary. While not everyone will encounter a physical heart ailment in his lifetime, there is another condition, also hereditary, with which every human being struggles. It is the propensity for a spiritually sick heart. The Bible has hundreds of references to the heart, but very few of them refer to the ticking organ inside our chests. The dictionary definition of the heart referred to in the Bible is in part, “The center of the total personality, especially with reference to intuition, feeling, or emotion.”* It is the inner being, and the place from where good and evil originate. According to the ESV Student Study Bible commentary, “In early Hebrew, ‘heart’ included what today is called the ‘mind.’” And, in relation to the terms used in the book of Proverbs, “Heart in Proverbs refers to the center of one’s inner life. It is from this place that a person does all thinking, feeling, and choosing.” Commentary on Jeremiah 17:9 states, “heart. The human will and emotions.”*
God, as the great physician, evaluates the condition of our hearts. “The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and the LORD tests hearts” (Proverbs 17:3, ESV). “Every way of a man is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the heart” (Proverbs 21:2, ESV). From the beginning, he has performed a spiritual stress test and angiogram, and the results are very concerning. “The LORD saw that the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every intention of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5, ESV). “‘The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?’” (Jeremiah 17:9, ESV). In the Gospels, Jesus weighs in on the problem. He quotes from the Book of Isaiah: “‘For this people’s heart has grown dull, and with their ears they can barely hear, and their eyes they have closed, lest they should see with their eyes and hear with their ears and understand with their heart and turn, and I would heal them’” (Matthew 13:15, ESV). “‘For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, sexual immorality, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, sensuality, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a person’” (Mark 7:21-23, ESV).
Yes, our hearts are desperately sick, evil, and far from God. So, what is the remedy? Our compassionate and caring Great Physician has not left us without a cure. The first step for our spiritual heart health is having a relationship with God through his Son; “Because, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved. For with the heart one believes and is justified, and with the mouth one confesses and is saved” (Romans 10:9-10, ESV). If you have never taken this step to spiritual heart health, then do it today! To keep your heart in optimum condition, there are steps that our Physician would want us to take. Praying to him and asking for his help to make our hearts pure and wholesome is key. “Search me, O God, and know my heart! Try me and know my thoughts! And see if there be any grievous way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting! (Psalm 139:23-24, ESV). Reading and taking in his Word is highly important. “I have stored up your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you” (Psalm 119:11, ESV). Staying in close relationship with him and with others is vital. “And [Jesus] answered, ‘You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength and with all your mind, and your neighbor as yourself’” (Luke 10:27, ESV). Following his prescription for a healthy heart will keep us strong and in line with him. Praise the Lord for his love and care over us!
References:
*1) Online American Heart Association Statistics, AI Overview, 2024 Report.
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My son, Kris, experienced his first chest pains after allowing himself the indulgence of eating bacon, an occasional delight. Thinking it might have been GI related, he didn’t consider it to be a problem, and he ignored it. But then, he began having those chest pains when taking a not-too-significant incline on one of his walks, and when it happened several times and began to be accompanied by a pain in the jaw, he knew he needed to be seen by a physician. A stress test determined that there indeed was a problem, and an angiogram was scheduled for about ten days later. When Kris started to experience the overwhelming pain and pressure while walking on level ground, he was immediately admitted to the hospital. In the first couple days he had several episodes of pain, and they decided to do the heart procedure within a day or two. Slowing his heart rate and monitoring him carefully kept him pain-free and stable. But the angiogram revealed the problem: Kris had a 95% blockage in one of his main arteries. The procedure included immediate insertion of a stent to undo the blockage. Fortunately, the heart itself did not suffer an attack, and while he will be on some medications likely for a lifetime and has to continue cardiologist visits periodically, he has been feeling fairly well, and the postoperative fatigue is subsiding. Praise the Lord for his love and care over Kris!
