SPIRITUAL CARDIO CHECKUP
(6-minute read)
IMAGINE you are holding a cup of coffee when someone comes along and bumps into you, causing you to spill coffee that can potentially stain all surfaces it touches. Why did you spill the coffee?
You may say, "Because someone bumped into me!" That would be a wrong answer.
In reality, you spilled the coffee because there was coffee in your cup. If there had been water in the cup, you would have spilled water. Or if there had been milk, you would have spilled milk and nothing else.
Whatever is inside the cup is what will spill out.
This analogy tells us that when we encounter bumps and shake-ups in life (which will happen), whatever is inside us will come out. It's easy to fake it, until we get rattled. Some may deliberately keep a safe distance from anyone or try to maintain such a rigid balance that nothing will spill out. Yet ultimately, we have to ask ourselves, “What's in my cup?".
When life gets tough, what spills over? Would it be a response that flows out of love, patience, compassion, and humility, or would it be full of the impatience, anger, disappointment, and bitterness that you have carefully kept under lid till provoked?
Life provides a cup to each of us: we (individually) choose its content – what stays inside and what has to be emptied.
King David knew that his heart needed to be checked daily. He was aware that life had many moving parts and that he was just as vulnerable as anyone to sin and make serious mistakes. We can see this in the way he prayed:
“Put me on trial, Lord, and cross-examine me. Test my motives and my heart.” (Psalm 26:2 NLT).
“Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. Point out anything in me that offends You, and lead me along the path of everlasting life.” (Psalm 139:23-24 NLT).
David did not pray to be perfect but to be constantly sensitive to God’s Spirit alerting him to the human tendency to sin. In the same way, we should constantly invite the Holy Spirit to inspect our hearts and expose unhealthy motivations we cling onto that hinder our relationships with God and with others.
The Bible provides a clear rule for maintaining spiritual cardio health in Proverbs 4:23-27, “Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Keep your mouth free of perversity; keep corrupt talk far from your lips. Let your eyes look straight ahead; fix your gaze directly before you. Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.”
It pays well to check our motivations for purity, not perfection. Our response to life bumps, including the unwelcome ‘suddenlies’ will cause whatever is in our hearts to spill out. Unwholesome and harmful thoughts can block our spiritual arteries and create spiritual malaise.
CHECK YOUR SPEECH
How we speak in response to situational and relational provocation is revealing of what’s in our hearts. No one can stay silent forever, no matter how stoic or reserved we are. We need to also check our internal dialogue – whatever we tell ourselves about the people in our lives will be revealed in how we act towards them. In addition, when we pray to God, are our prayers thinly veiled anxieties rather than faith?
When we are wronged or mistreated, it is one thing to talk about the hurtful behaviour and a contrary thing to attack the hurtful person. When we are engaged in an intense argument, there is a place to address the issue of contention, but not for ad hominem attacks. Proverbs 4:24 warns us to keep our mouths free of perversity, and to keep corrupt talk far from our lips.
From the analogy of a tree and its fruits, Scripture reminds us that “the mouth speaks what the heart is full of” (Luke 6:43-45).
An effective way to check our speech is to run regular health checks like praying Psalm 19:14 (NLT), “May the words of my mouth and the meditation of my heart be pleasing to You, O Lord, my rock and my redeemer.”
CHECK YOUR GAZE
So often when we take our eyes off the figurative cup in our hands, we unconsciously let harmful things enter and fill it. When we are distracted with busyness and focusing on things that are perennially urgent but not important, we can lose sight of where we are heading and put ourselves on perilous paths. “Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.” (Proverbs 4:25 NLT).
Also, when we face battles and challenges, it is easy to be fixated on our challenges instead of fixing our gaze on the Lord. When King Jehosaphat faced a military crisis, he turned to God and prayed, “For we have no power to face this vast army that is attacking us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” (2 Chronicles 20:12). In response, God gave them this assurance “For the battle is not yours, but God’s” (2 Chronicles 20:15).
In the ordinary moments of life, when we feel restless or bored, it is important to stay away from unwholesome content on streaming platforms, the internet, social media and reading materials that are not good for our mind and soul. Much of the literary and entertainment content today are not created for healthy relationships and for purity of minds.
“For the world offers only a craving for physical pleasure, a craving for everything we see, and pride in our achievements and possessions. These are not from the Father, but are from this world.” (1 John 2:16).
CHECK YOUR FOOTPATH
We can be sure that the trajectory of life involves all kinds of footwork - strolling, trekking, sprints and walking. The Bible offers us a great piece of advisory for travelling on foot, “Give careful thought to the paths for your feet and be steadfast in all your ways. Do not turn to the right or the left; keep your foot from evil.” (Proverbs 4:26-27).
When we tackle life hurdles, we often instinctively try to figure things out instead of leaning on God, thinking that taking God’s path will slow us down. In reality, nothing is further from the truth that God’s solutions never arrive late and are far more effective than anything we can imagine. Proverbs 3:5-5 (MSG) tells us, “Trust God from the bottom of your heart; don’t try to figure out everything on your own. Listen for God’s voice in everything you do, everywhere you go; He’s the one who will keep you on track.”
It is vital for believers to obey God and to train our thinking and reasoning to rely on His promises until it becomes native to us to turn to Him for everything. “My child, listen to Me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life. I will teach you Wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths. When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble. Take hold of My instructions; don’t let them go. Guard them, for they are the key to life.” (Proverbs 4:10-13 NLT).
It is also not enough to wear the right shoes to ensure our personal safety when we are threading through different surfaces, we need to first check if we are even on the right footpath. Are we taking the same path of thought in approaching new problems, thinking it is safest to go down familiar paths with known failure rates and stay stuck in our lives and relationships? On the issues of life partner, next job, financial problems, emotional pain and health disorders, are we quick to take shortcuts to avoid the discomfort of waiting on God?
What will you find when you run a spiritual cardio check on yourself today? What will the results show about your speech, your gaze and the footpath you are currently on?
This is a summary and reflection based on a virtual BIR Session held on 10 August 2024.
