Here we are, already in the second month of our new year. Wow!
February is American Heart Month, recognizing the importance of physical heart health. And, as we all know, Valentine’s Day is right in the middle of the month, celebrating another type of “heart health.”
I think most of us know what Demar Hamlin, who plays safety for the NFL’s Buffalo Bills has gone through. During a January game against the Cincinnati Bengals, Hamlin had a heart attack and collapsed on the field, stopping the game.
This event shook the world’s mind about how quickly things can happen and change your life. I know what a heart attack is like — I had one a few months ago and am still recovering.
Let’s take a look at the heart.
Blood flows through the heart, and the heart cleanses the blood to keep us safe from infection. If the passages in and out of the heart get blocked, it will shut down and stop cleansing blood. This can lead to death.
Just see where I am trying to lead your thoughts. Think about Jesus and his cleansing blood. We, like blood, flow through the heart of Christ daily, as he cleanses us. How many of you have heard of the Sacred Heart of Jesus? And how many have heard the hymn, “Are You Washed in the Blood?” Have you been washed in the cleansing blood of the lamb?
Well, now hopefully you know a little bit more about the flow of blood and its cleansing power. Just think of all your sins flowing through the heart of Christ and being cleansed as they flow through those ventricle channels. We enter Christ’s heart dark with sin, but we come out snow white — clean and refreshed. The sin has been washed away, and we are renewed in Christ.
He shed his blood on the cross for our salvation. He carries us daily in his love and washes us clean.
There are no catches. There are no strings attached. All we need to do is say, “I’m sorry,” and he washes us clean again and again.
Just as our hearts cleanse blood continually in our body, so are we constantly washed clean through the blood of Christ. However, just a heart attack can stop the flow of blood in our bodies, so can an unrepentant spirit “clog” the heart of Christ.
Still, he will give us time to repent, be revived in spirit and flow freely again. All we need to do is repent, to ask for cleansing. He knows we make mistakes as humans, but his love for us lets the cleansing blood clean us again and again.
Never underestimate the power of the flow of blood through the heart, because it is the source of life in us — just as it is the source of life in Christ. Don’t stop that flow, because it’s the difference between life and death.
Only you can decide to live in freedom from sin or death; only you can ask for the cleansing Christ offers us. He gives us the nitroglycerin pill, so to speak — the grace that jump-starts our hearts to let the blood flow again. Only you — no one else can do it for you — can accept that grace, flow through Christ’s bloodstream and heart, and come out clean again.
Are you ready for freedom from a heart attack, whether physical or spiritual? February is called Heart Month for many reasons other than Valentine cards, flowers and boxes of candy. It’s a month of revitalization for all of us.
Best of the roads, and all gears forward in Jesus.
