Have you ever taken CPR or First Aid training before? I was a lifeguard for six years and had to recertify in them ever year. It terrified me. I’m not really a numbers person. I hate tests. And it’s never very calming to have someone saying, “The baby is dying” as you furtively try to recesitate the plastic baby mannequin. I was usually close to tears as I tried to remember if it’s 15 compressions to 2 breaths or 1 to 3 or did they do away with that this year?! It felt like the numbers were always changing. But you know what step never changed? Assessing the situaion.

Alway asses the situation. In order to determine if someone is choking, has an obstruction of airflow, has passed out… you check to see if they respond to touch and sound and then you examine them to see if they are breathing! The goal is to get them to take in oxygen – it’s necessary for everything in your body. The heart and brain require almost constant oxygen. (Airway, breathing, circulation!)

Ready for the spiritual application? The physical aspect of our heart requires maintenance. What we eat and how often we exercise play a role in the health of our heart. As we age we need more frequent examinations to make sure the heart is holding up under what can be years of abuse.  While it might take 30 years of damage to wear down your physical heart, our spiritual hearts can weaken in a very short period of time.

This week we are going to assess the situation. While we won’t be able to cure passionless living on our own, we do know the one with all of the answers. God is the one with the necessary tools and skills to revive our hearts.  He is the great physician and healer. “Won’t you revive us again, so your people can rejoice in you?”  Psalm 85:6, NLT

More to come.

Following,
Ginger