Hardening of the Arteries

As I was praying earlier today, one thing that came to my mind was an analogy. When we have a buildup of plaque in our physical arteries, it restricts the flow of blood. This is called atherosclerosis, but it is also called 'hardening of the arteries.' This condition causes dastardly results, such as restricted blood flow to the heart, the brain and arteries in other parts of the body.

Do we consider a hardening of our spiritual arteries any LESS dangerous? Since His love is already in us, what interferes with its outflow to others? It's not Him. If He lives in us, does He not also love in us? It occurred to me that I can ask Him to put His love in my heart, first & foremost for Him, then for others, but...it's already there. If it's not flowing out to others, it's not because He needs to supply me with more. It means I need to remove the blockage(s)...such as bitterness, unforgiveness, self-absorption. The list goes on and your list could be very different from mine.

So, why is this such a big deal? God has given us a most wonderful allegory between our human bodies and His Body...the body of Christ. His body, as ours, is made up of many members, which all serve in different ways, having (very) different functions. Some may be more important than others, some may be more visible than others, yet no less important. Some may be beautiful and some ugly...yet all are necessary. And they all need the supply of blood to fulfill their function(s). The blood supply brings needed nutrients, cleansing and LIFE! When the blood supply is cut off to any member of the body, it soon expires and ceases to be alive. So, as with our physical bodies, the members of His Body MUST HAVE that continual supply. He could do it all by Himself, but He's chosen to make the body an interdepent entity. We must all give and receive to and from the other members of the Body. If we do not, we experience a measure of death. If my foot is amputated due to a diabetic condition, I'm not dead, but part of me has died.

Another analogy is a pond. If a pond only receives inflow of water, it becomes stagnant due to the lack of outflowing. If a pond is a source of a stream, and only flows out, it eventually dries up. Neither situation is good. They both produce the death of the pond. There must be both...inflow and outflow.

So it is with us, as members of His Body. We must receive (with all humility) from other members of the Body AND we must give to other members of the Body...or death, in some form or measure, occurs. How are your arteries? Y'know, as with our physical arteries, they're not seen by others, or even ourselves, unless we have them checked out by an 'expert.' But, we rarely have them checked until we have some symptoms that indicate there might be a problem. Hmmm...any symptoms of artery blockage? Let's check in with the Expert to see if we have some unseen artery blockage for a diagnosis and proper treatment!