Your heart beats about seventy times per minute. In that minute, your heart propels five liters of blood.1 Elite athletes can pump up to forty liters per minute. An average person’s heart pushes through the body 7,600 liters per day. In seventy years, your heart will beat about 2.5 billion times.
The average heart weight for adult males is around 300–350 grams, while for adult females it is 250–300 grams.2 Three hundred grams of muscle working in your body is the difference between the joy of living and a coffin.
Heart is more than just an occasional word in Scripture, appearing 919 times in the ESV translation, making it a perpetual theme. If you explore the electronic library of Ellen G. White, you will find her work references heart 32,149 times.
The heart being so significant within your body and Bible, . . . may I politely inquire about the condition of your heart?
I’m no cardiologist, but are you exercising appropriately for your age and physical capability? For most people, the number one thing we can do to increase our lifespan is exercise. Our heart loves to work and with the appropriate amount of exertion, it gets better and stronger.
Are you eating the right foods for your heart health? Nutritious wholesome food, that tastes good? And occasionally, in moderation, are you eating foods that bring a cheer to your heart? Eating with people you treasure is good for your heart too.
The human heart is a multidimensional, multifaceted organ. More than just a pump of de-oxygenated blood to the lungs and oxygenated blood to the brain and extremities of the body, it is regarded as the seat of our emotions, where our true beliefs and most intimate thoughts are said to reside.
The routine and rigors of life can take a toll on a person’s heart. Broken, crushed, desensitized, scarred—are verbs that can be tragically applied to the human heart.
A heart can be empty. Conversely, it can be filled with the wrong stuff. Instead of being filled with love, grace, and the Holy Spirit, jealousy, bitterness, cynicism, resentment, anger, and a hundred other soul-destroying things can overflow from the heart.
But a heart can just become dull, sluggish, and slow to respond to the beckoning of the Holy Spirit. Miraculously and thankfully, your heart can be renewed.
Who or what do you allow to live in your heart?
There are people who deserve a special place in your heart— the true God, Creator, and Savior especially. Your spouse, children, grandchildren, parents, grandparents, siblings, and relatives all deserve a special place in your heart too.
However, addictions evict every other love and treasure of our heart, ensuring sole occupancy. Unchecked, addictions destroy genuine joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control.
As transformative as a pacemaker or donated human heart can be, we need more than just a mechanical device or a donated heart from another mortal to get a dysfunctional heart to beat for a little extra finite time.
One of the most wondrous teachings of your Bible is that our Creator wants to give each person a new heart now and for eternity. A new spiritual heart now and a new physical heart upon the return of Jesus, when “in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet . . . and we shall be changed” (1 Cor 15:52, ESV).
Here’s the offer and the promise from the One who can really be trusted:
“And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you” (Ezek 36:26, ESV).
1 One liter is approximately one-quarter of a US liquid gallon.
2 Three hundred grams is approximately two-thirds of a US pound.
Anthony R. Kent, General Conference Associate Ministerial Secretary
