Health & Fitness
Where your treasure is ...
Some heart-healthy thoughts on Valentine's Day from Rev. Michael Piazza, Senior Pastor of Virginia-Highland Church.
Today is Valentine’s Day, and there are red hearts everywhere. As you know, our heart is a muscle that pumps blood continuously throughout our bodies. In fact, it beats more than 100,000 times a day. It sends our blood traveling 168,000 miles every 24 hours.
It is truly amazing when you think about it. We could never build a machine that works 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, for more than 100 years. The heart’s strength, durability, and efficiency are amazing. No wonder authors and poets, artists and songwriters long have been obsessed with the organ that is literally the center of us all. The heart is much more than just a biomechanical pump continuously circulating oxygenated blood.
When we talk about having a heartache, we don’t mean that we are having a muscle cramp in our chest, though sometimes those are the physical symptoms of our emotional distress.
Find out what's happening in Virginia Highland-Druid Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
Many of us grew up in churches that were obsessed with the idea that everyone receive Jesus in their hearts. During every service, an invitation was given to come forward and receive Jesus. The congregation would sing one more verse of “Just as I Am” while we all waited on that heathen among us to come forward and ask Jesus into their heart. Some of us had so much guilt we invited Jesus into our heart so many times we thought he was a cardiologist.
That evangelical imagery isn’t particular biblical, but there are many images in the Bible that link our faith to the condition of our hearts. Jesus lamented about the disciples who are outwardly religious but whose hearts are far from him. I’ve tried to think of the times when Jesus might say that to us. Would that be his evaluation of the kind of disciples we have become?
Find out what's happening in Virginia Highland-Druid Hillswith free, real-time updates from Patch.
There are many things that are at the heart of our lives. We have passion about our work, our career, our success. We are devoted to our family, our relationship, our team. We are enthusiastic about our hobbies and our entertainment. Obsessive about our stocks, mutual funds, and 401Ks.
But is what is at the heart of our life? Is it truly our faith around which the rest of our world revolves? Well, there is one way to tell. Jesus himself gave us this test: Where your treasure is there will your heart be also.