“Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life.” (Proverbs 4:23 NIV)

Pick up any health magazine and you will likely see an article about the importance of exercise, diet, and eliminating stress to maintain a healthy physical heart.  But what about our other heart – the non-physical one that the Bible talks about so much?

The abridged concordance at the back of the NIV Bible shows 75 references to the use of the word “heart.”  The following are just a few examples:

• “Love and serve the Lord, your God, with all your heart” (Dt. 10:12)
• “Trust in the Lord with all your heart” (Proverbs 3:5)
• “For where your treasure is, there also will your heart be” (Matthew: 6:21)

Some of these verses come from texts that may go back more than 3000 years.  None of them are referring to our physical heart.  All of them seem to be searching for a way to express that mysterious interior part of our existence that determines who we really are – our propensity to love or be selfish; our inclination toward joy or depression; our motivation and thirst for life; and the source for many of our daily choices. 

Since we can’t physically see or touch these non-physical aspects of our existence, we use words like heart, soul, spirit, and inner self to describe them. Although separate from our physical being, they take up residence there.  If our physical being is destroyed, God promises that our heart, soul and spirit live on.  That’s why St. Paul says our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. (1 Co. 6:19)

Since our non-physical heart is so instrumental to all of the rest of our existence, are we treating it with the same care as our physical heart?  What are we feeding this other heart?  How are we exercising it? Is our diet primarily one of pop culture that includes R and X rated movies and comedians that love to use four letter words?  Is our life filled with busyness that leaves no time for daily prayer, the reading of God’s word or the serving of someone other than ourselves?   

Might we not fill this “wellspring of life” with a dedicated time of talking with and listening to God each day; reading the Bible and other spiritual books; serving a spouse, child, colleague or friend; and seeking God’s will in all things.  

How are you nourishing and exercising your other heart?

You formed my inmost being; you knit me in my mother’s womb…so wonderfully you made me;” (Psalm 139:13-14)

Whether we recognize it or not, we all have the glory of God in us.  We are gloriously made in the image of God.  Our human body, with all its parts and a mind that combines instinct and rationality, is still not fully comprehended by medical science.  We are made up of millions of cells that work in unity to give us eyes to see, ears to hear, a mind to understand, along with coronary, respiratory and digestive systems to sustain our lives. 

We are at the top of the pyramid of God’s creation.  Genesis tells us that we are made “to work and take care” of the garden of creation. (Gen. 2:15 NIV) Jesus says, “I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit that will remain,” and “you will be my witnesses… to the ends of the earth.” (John 15:16; Acts 1:8)The glory of our being combines with the glory of our mission. 

There have been times in my life when I had forgotten who I was, and the important work God had given me.  Early in my career I sought the false gods of recognition and position without regard to what God’s will was for me and my family. 

By God’s grace, the example of my wife, and the power of the Holy Spirit, God opened my eyes to see that I was wonderfully made in his image to work and take care of a piece of his creation that was all a part of something larger than myself. 

It is part of God’s plan, also called natural law, that most of us become co-creators with him.   We bring new life into this world, nurturing that life in the context of a family with a mother and a father, and teaching and demonstrating the truth of God’s word to the next generation. 

We are also called to work and take care of our thread in the larger fabric of creation, whatever it may be, so that both civilization and God’s kingdom are moved forward on earth as it is in heaven.  We are precious in the eyes of God. 

What are you doing with God’s glory in you?