Got my new heart rate monitor in the mail today, and I wore it as I rode my stationary bike, ran on the treadmill, and lifted weights. It not only tells me how fast my heart is beating but “intensity” which is a comparison between present heart rate and maximum heart rate which is determined by my age. My max heart rate is supposed to be 162 beats per minute.  Another interesting category is “willpower” which it gives you after a work out on a scale of 1 to 10 on the basis of how long you maintained a 80% max heart rate during your workout.  All that info is supposed to tell me if I am getting in better shape or not!!

Wouldn’t it be cool if there were some kind of gadget like that which would measure my spiritual heart, the maturity and character of the real me on the inside. The Bible says that God sees our heart, but we seem incredibly blind to our own level of maturity of our own heart. Our heart is the place where our motives reside, and most of us have no clue what motivates us and why we do what we do.

I don’t have an inner heart monitor so I guess I will have to rely on very honest self examination, along with reflection, and contemplation about my own life and motives and maturity. It is that “honest” part that is hard to do. It is so easy to be self deceived and blind to the condition of our heart, and the consequences of such blindness is significant and eternal. Help me Lord to be painfully honest about who I really am on the inside, my heart.