This month we celebrate Valentine’s Day — also known as a holiday that could encourage your heart or wound it depending on the circumstances that unfold throughout the day. We bank a lot on this one day of the year. In the midst of all the candy, cards, flowers, kisses, hugs and dinners out ... at the end of the day you may feel loved (or not), but what about the other 364 days out of the year? Perhaps that love fades along with the flowers, candy wrappers and cards that eventually get thrown out.
What is it that awakens our hearts to love our loved ones on a higher level during some days of the year, yet with back burner neutral gear type mentality, neglect other days of the year? Love, the very food humans are designed to feed from ... this daily nourishment for our bodies, emotions and soul, when left neglected, leaves a person anorexic. Our continual emotional need for love is equal to the physical heart needing fresh blood pumped throughout the whole body.
Inside the human heart
The physical human heart is a muscular organ with the major function of pumping blood. The blood is pumped throughout the many blood vessels within the human body. The heart completes this task with repeated and rhythmic contractions. The circulatory system that includes the vertebrates is also working within the system of all the body organs to perform vital functions to accomplish continued life of the human being. When our heart beats, every single beat involves five major stages called the cardiac cycle. The cardiac cycle refers to all the events related to the results of the beginning of each heartbeat. The five stages include the first two, the “ventricular filling” stage and the last three involve moving the blood flow from the ventricles to the artery and the aorta. Throughout this cardiac cycle, valves are opened or closed, blood flows or ceases to flow, the heart is relaxed or contracted, the ventricular are empty or full, and blood pressure increases or decreases.
All this happens in a beautifully orchestrated rhythmic beat. Unnoticed to the naked eye and fully trusted by humans, this wonderful well working machine is often forgotten by us as we go about our daily tasks of living. The healthy heart inside our bodies produces a healthy reproduction of blood that flows not only in our bodies, but overflows outwardly to our emotions, feelings, attitude and the way we respond to others.
There are main functions of the heart that help circulate the oxygen and blood. The right side of the heart is to collect de-oxygenated blood, in the right atrium from the body then pump it through the tricuspid valve, the right ventricle and into the lungs. The left side of the heart collects oxygenated blood from the lungs and from the left atrium the blood moves to the left ventricle, through the valve then pumps it out to the body. The muscle wall surrounding the left ventricle is thicker than the wall surrounding the right ventricle due to the higher force needed to pump the blood through the systemic circulation.
In regards to a healthy heart, once the de-oxygenated blood becomes oxygenated, the whole heart awakens. Blood flow, oxygen, lungs, valves, etc. all work together with the purpose to wake up the heart and to keep it pumping.
Awaken
God calls us to a place where He, expects, and even commands, that our hearts are awakened in Him. The word awake means to cease from sleeping, become aroused or active again and to become conscious or aware of something. We need to literally wake ourselves up daily to spend time with Him and being faithful to stay awake spiritually and mentally. When we are in a healthy state of being spiritually awaken, our heartbeat is in complete sync with Jesus. Beating in the same rhythm, blood flow, with the perfect amount of oxygen are the signs of a spiritual heart that is healthy, pure, holy and righteous. Only the Lord can do this in us and through us. He invites us; we all have opportunity to receive this chance of our hearts being awakened through His great love and Jesus’ faithful obedience to the cross.
It is the Holy Spirit that helps us with our spiritual heart issues, making sure our spiritual cardiac cycle is flowing with a holy, righteous rhythmic beat but most importantly in complete rhythm and heartbeat with our master God.
Awaken your heart to Christ. See the true eternal love that will run through your veins, give you spiritual refreshing that will last for eternity.
Questions
1) Will you seek your heart to make sure it is awakened to Jesus?
2) In what ways does your heart need to beat more regularly in alignment with His?
3) Will you seek your heart to make sure it is awakened to Jesus?
4) Will you commit to spending extra time with Jesus daily to accompany your heart to His?
Prayer Dear Lord,
Awaken my heart to Yours. Cause my heartbeat to come in sync with your heartbeat. Make me to grieve the things that cause your heart to grieve and make me delight with joy over the things that give you great joy. Awaken my heart to the sin that I have closed my eyes to. Awaken my heart to apathy so that I will be more alert. Awaken my heart to the needs of people so that I can refresh others with the same refreshing you have given me. Dear Lord, awaken my heart more to You!
Further study
Ephesians 5:13-22
I Corinthians 15:33-34
Romans 13:10-13
I Peter 1:15
© Copyright 2012 Simone Lake. All Rights Reserved.
© Copyright 2012 Deep Roots in Christ Ministries. All Rights Reserved
About the author: Simone Lake is a Christ follower, bride of John, Bible teacher and a passionate pray-er.
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