1 Samuel 16:7 But the Lord said to Samuel, “Do not consider his appearance or his height for I have rejected him. The Lord does not look at the things that people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”
Romans 3:10-12 As it is written: “There is no one righteous, not even one; there is no one who understands; there is no one who seeks God. All have turned away, they have together become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one.
Romans 3:22-24 This righteousness is given through Jesus Christ to all who believe. There is no difference between Jew or Gentile, for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by His grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.
James 1:14-15 but each person is tempted when they are dragged away by their own evil desire and enticed. Then, after desire is conceived, it gives birth to sin; and sin, when it is full-grown, gives birth to death.
So earlier today, I happened to stumble upon a medical website, which is really not that uncommon for me (and happily, I wasn’t diagnosing myself with different diseases like I might have when I was little 9 year old hypochondriac Courtney). I was reading about high blood pressure and it said that it was a “silent killer”. High blood pressure can lead to hypertension which contributes to kidney damage, blindness, dementia, and the #1 and #3 leading causes of death in the US–heart disease and stroke. According to the article on MedicineNet, a little under a quarter of the American population have high blood pressure. And the scariest part about that? A lot of those inflicted don’t even know it. These people may not have any physical indicators that would alert them that something is amiss. They may even seem in shape, they may seem healthy. But as this article shows, things aren’t always as they seem. It’s really dangerous to base rationale merely off of what is physically seen. I mean, seriously. People can literally die. When you go into doctor’s office, they take X-rays, they use sphygmomanometers to read your blood pressure, they draw blood to run tests–they do all of these things so they can get a more accurate depiction of what is going on on the inside, a place where the naked eye cannot see. That way they are able to make a diagnosis and properly treat the ailment.
Some of us spiritually, are walking around with this high blood pressure. We are coming to church and endlessly serving, all the while having spiritual hypertension, not knowing we may be only days away from suffering a fatal heart attack. Sin is that silent killer. A lot of times, we don’t know just how unhealthy we are due to sin because we can’t see it on the inside. On the outside we look good though! We know the right things to say and do and the way we are supposed to act as Christians. We’ve spent more time keeping up with our outward appearance and have totally neglected our hearts.
The sin in our lives, if left un-submitted to God, will begin to take root in our lives and it will grow and fester until it kills us. It’s like plaque in your arteries. With a little bit of plaque in your arteries, you’re able to function okay. Blood is still able to travel through the arteries. It may not able flow as freely as it would with a cleared artery but it still flows. But over time that plaque builds up to a point to where blood can no longer travel through. Sin is the same way. It separates us from God and when left untreated by Him, it will cut us off from Him completely.
Just as we should all take preventative measures in dealing with our physical health (such as physical exams, exercise, eating right, getting enough sleep, etc.) we should do the same with our spiritual health (being deeply rooted in prayer, studying the Bible, connecting with God, fellowshipping with other Christians, addressing issues with one another, etc.) Not one of us is above being ill. Even the physically healthiest of individuals are susceptible to the limitations of their bodies. Even the greatest of Christians become ill as well. We all become ill at some point in our lives–not one human being on this earth is perfect. But what determines the state of our health is not how ill we get, but how well we recover.
So let’s all make sure we are healthy! We are able to do that when we have God’s perfect eyes looking at our insides and examining us.
“Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts.
See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me int he way everlasting.”
Psalm 139:23-24