Heart ECHO
(Example pictures – not mine)
Heart ECHO
This week, I had to have an echo-cardiogram (echo). This is a test that uses high frequency sound waves (ultrasound) to make pictures of the heart.
Why would I need an echo? My doctor wants to look at my heart’s structure and check how well my heart functions, size and shape of my heart, and the size, thickness and movement of my heart’s walls. This is so he can see how my heart is moving. This is all because of the heart attack I had 4 years ago.
As I watched the screen as the technician performed her duties, I heard the different sounds my heart made depending on which part she was over. I saw the reds and blues of the flow of blood through my valves. I witnessed my heart beating to the song Charlton danced on Fresh Prince of Bel Air. There were many graphs, measurements, and pictures, but I had no idea what they meant. I do know that someone will be able to take all the parts of this reading of my heart and be able to make sense out of it.
I’m not sure if my simple mind just looks for object lessons through the day, but I know that God uses my everyday life to teach me to trust Him more. I had to schedule this test today before someone could do their job to take the images. But God can always see my heart. He looks at it everyday. He can tell if the size of my heart is large enough to share with others or if it is small and greedy. He sees the thickness of my heart. Is it soft enough to do the job He has given me to do, or has it become calloused and unusable? Life is in the blood and knowing that I have royal blood in my veins is something that no one can ever take away from me. The word heart is used both physically and spiritually. It is very important in both aspects of my life.
The Bible talks a lot about the heart. Proverbs mentions the heart 82 times. One of my favorites in Proverbs is Chapter 4 verse 23, “Keep thy heart with all diligence; for out of it are the issues of life.” Christ mentioned the heart in Matthew 6:21, “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.” Just as my doctor here can take the weird, odd, and unusual images that I saw today and make sense out of them, God can take the mundane, the curious, and rare things that come into my spiritual heart and use them for His glory. But a lot of how it is used in my life is up to me. If I don’t take the medicines, do the exercises and eat right as my physician has ordered, then my physical heart will be weak. If I don’t follow God’s Word, feast on His goodness, and share His love and mercy with others, then I will be feeble and unable to do what God has for me to do. Lord, help me to keep your Word close – “Bind them continually upon thine (my) heart, and tie them about thy (my) neck.” Proverbs 6:21
