In case your Cheerios box didn’t tell you, heart disease is the leading cause of death in the United States.
According to the CDC, one in four deaths are attributed to some sort of heart condition.
That’s troubling.
Many campaigns have been started to promote healthy habits and active living.
We need our hearts to be as fit as possible to keep living longer.
But this is actually a secondary problem.
There’s something more grave and serious happening today.
It’s not just our physical hearts that are at risk, but our spiritual hearts.
When the Son of God came to earth, He diagnosed spiritual health issues.
People flocked to hear Him, but they weren’t really listening.
They watched His miracles, but they didn’t really see Him.
Jesus saw that their hearts had become dull.
He referenced an ancient prophecy:
“You will keep on hearing, but will not understand.
You will keep on seeing, but will not perceive.For the heart of this people has become dull,
With their ears they scarcely hear,
And they have closed their eyes.Otherwise, they would see with their eyes,
Matthew 13:15 (from Isaiah 6:10)
Hear with their ears,
And understand with their heart and return,
And I would heal them.”
The heart of this people has become dull.
That word “dull” is translated from a Greek word that means thick, hardened, or fatty.
Imagine a layer of fat encasing the heart.
It makes the heart calloused and untouchable.
Spiritual heart disease seems to be as rampant today as physical heart disease.
Instead of hearts that are tender toward God and can respond easily to His word,
Hearts are dull and insensitive.
The fat has been built up until there’s no way to get through.
Shutting out the Word of God has only one outcome: Death.
So how’s your spiritual heart today?
Have you been exercising and keeping the fat away?
Are you seeking God, looking and listening to Him?
Or have you shut Him out, and let the fat creep over your heart?
Just like it’s not too late to start healthy habits for your physical heart,
It’s not too late to turn to the Great Physician.
Look, hear, understand with your heart.
Return and be healed.