Stethoscope of the Heart
“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can
know it? I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins, even to give every man
according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings.” (Jeremiah
17: 9, 10 KJV)
One of the things that the doctor does when we have a physical checkup is listen
to the heart with a stethoscope. The doctor is then able to determine if there
is something wrong. If the doctor hears anything irregular he or she might
schedule more tests. We have a Physician who puts on His stethoscope of love and
listens to the emotions of our hearts and His name is Jesus. He searches our
hearts for bitterness, unforgiveness, hatred, jealousy, and all other things
that displease Him or hinders our relationship with Him and keeps us from
serving Him effectively.
We also need to put on a stethoscope of unconditional love, forgiveness and
compassion and listen to the hearts of our families, loved ones and friends, and
to a world that is lonely and in tremendous agony and pain. If we would become
encouragers for one another instead of trying to find something wrong, we would
have a support system that the world has never known.
I personally know six people who listen very closely to what their pastor
preaches to see if he pronounces something incorrectly when reading the
Scripture passage. These people will one day stand before a Holy God and give an
account of their actions. Instead of trying to find something wrong in a sermon,
we should be praying for God to give our pastor a special anointing so our
pastor can preach with boldness.
We need to be listening to the heartbeats of our pastor and family. They need to
be loved, appreciated and encouraged just like we do. May God forgive us for
taking our pastors for granted! Let’s become an encourager and prayer warrior
for our pastors. Joyce Landorf, a speaker and author, said on one of her
teaching tapes “I wonder what would happen if everyone in the congregation
became an encourager to their pastor”. I think if all of the congregations would
pray for their pastors, love their pastors and encourage them, we would see an
excitement and boldness of preaching that we have never known.
The most important thing we need to do is put a stethoscope to the heart of
Jesus. If we will listen closely, we will hear His heart beating with
unconditional love for us. When He listens to our hearts, does He hear love for
Him and for our families and the world or does He hear resentment, bitterness,
unforgiveness, criticism and rejection? Are we doing and saying things that
bring honor to Him or are we doing and saying things that hurt Him?
Joanne Lowe
April 2, 2007 joannelowe8@cox.net
http://joannelowe.blogspot.com/
http://www.heavenwardbound.com/