How's your heart?

How's your heart? That can be a very important question. Towards the end of last year, a very dear friend of ours (my wife and me), who was 81 years of age (the same age as I currently am!), but full of life, and joy, and who always seemed to be in the best of health, died unexpectedly. The cause of her death? A sudden heart attack. The Emergency Services were called, but it was too late. Now, I have to say that this dear lady was a true disciple of Jesus and we believe, firmly, that while the physical body died, her spirit - the very essence of who she was - went to be with her Saviour, to be eternally with Him. However, it would appear that her heart - the physical organ - wasn't as strong as those who knew her had believed!

The heart, as well as being a physical organ, has long been considered to be the seat of our emotions; the seat if decisive action; and the seat of belief (as well as of doubt!). The heart symbolises the centre of our moral, spiritual, and intellectual life. It is the seat of our conscience and life.

And Almighty God knows our hearts well! Through the prophet, Jeremiah, He states that "I YHWH search the mind and try the heart, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings." (17:10). After the global flood, He pronounces that "the desires of the human heart are evil from youth;" (Gen. 8:21; NABrevd).

The Lord Jesus informed His disciples that "What comes out of a man is what defiles a man. For from within, out of the heart of man, come evil thoughts, fornication, theft, murder, adultery, coveting, wickedness, deceit, licentiousness, envy, slander, pride, foolishness. All these evil things come from within, and they defile a man." (Mark 7:21-23).

Father God searches, and weighs, our hearts by the teaching of the Scriptures. He opens our hearts, to His truth, and gives us a new heart when we come to the Christ, in confession, repentance, faith, and commitment. He gives us a heart that is sensitive to His presence, His leading, and His love. Speaking through the prophet Ezekiel, He states: "A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will take out of your flesh the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to observe my ordinances." (36:26-27), words originally declared to the Children of Israel, but applicable to all.

Don't ever hesitate to take to Him whatever is on your heart. He already knows it, in any case, but He doesn't want you to bear its pain, or celebrate its joy, alone!

So, "How's your heart?"!

Paying for the most capable!

Time, and time again, we are informed that it is necessary to pay extravagent salaries, and outrageous bonuses, to senior bankers and others, in order to ensure that we get the best people at the top!

It has now been revealed by the FSA that a major cause of the collapse of The Royal Bank of Scotland, in 2008, was "poor management"!   If that is the result of paying people like "Sir" Fred Goodwin annual sums that many working-class people don't manage to accumulate in a lifetime, perhaps that old chestnut needs to be consigned to the fire of history - and even the so-called 'top people' paid according to results obtained, rather than those expected!

This becomes especially relevant in light of the further reports that "Sir" Fred acted deceitfully towards the board of RBS by, effectively, hiding from them that the FSA had not always regarded the dialogue with RBS's executive management as constructive!  I wonder if he can not now be charged with fraud, or some similar criminal offence?

This evening's news bulletin informed us that he ended up - even after having returned some of it - with a pension pot of £12million.  That's on top of any savings/investments he might have had, and doesn't even include almost a year working for another company after he had left RBS.   His annual pension is reckoned to be £342,500 a year - reduced from the original £555,000, after he took out an estimated £2.7m tax-free lump sum. The agreement reportedly followed the completion of RBS's internal inquiry into his conduct, which found no wrong-doing!

We live in a strange world, in which failure is so highly rewarded, while those who provide the services that keep us all going from day-to-day, receive so little in financial terms.  And in the persecuted church, there are many who are expelled from their homes, and villages, and even their country, with what material assets that they had being confiscated by the state - or simply stolen by their former neighbours!

Jesus said, "Do not lay up for yourselves treasures on earth, where moth and rust consume and where thieves break in and steal, but lay up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where neither moth nor rust consumes and where thieves do not break in and steal. For where your treasure is, there will your heart be also." (Matt 6:19-21).  Those, whether in the world of banking, or politics, or industry, who show that their god is Mammon, ought to heed those words, and seek after the true riches that come from faithful service of the Lord.