My medical history is quite extensive. One of my conditions is a heart problem called AFib. To all of the medical professionals, please forgive my very basic attempt to describe this condition. AFib is when my heart fails to stay in its normal rhythm and skips one or more beats. This causes a chamber of my heart not to do its job and pump out all of the blood. A tiny residue of blood can form a clot and travel to other parts of the body creating havoc and mayhem. To prevent this, I take a blood thinner and a prescription medicine to keep my heart in rhythm. I am very consistent in taking the medication, knowing that it is urgent for my physical well-being.
At one point, the doctor asked me to keep a daily log of my blood pressure, heart rate, and to note if my heart was in or out of rhythm. This daily journaling was very revealing. When I ate healthy one day, the next day my blood pressure was lower, my heart rate was in a healthy margin, and I had a healthy steady heartbeat. If I ate comfort foods, full of sodium, the next day I found higher blood pressure readings, my heart rate declined, and often my heartbeat wasn’t that steady. Wow! This is the real deal.
I learned that when I eat wisely and feed my body healthy nourishment there are results the next day, a lower bp, feeling better, and my body not swollen with fluid or junk that needs to go. It resulted in immediate gratification, which is music to the ears that have often said and felt that the only thing wrong with the concept of instant gratification is that it is just not soon enough!
Healthy diets do result in positive and immediate consequences. See where I am going with this? Oh, to be so diligent in my spiritual life! For my own spiritual well-being, I need my spiritual heart to stay in rhythm and to pump out all of the debris leaving no junk behind to contaminate the other parts of my life. In my quest to reach this goal, I have become more intentional each day feasting more on his word, working to deepen my prayer life, and striving to live a God first life.
God is so good, giving us far more mercy than we could ever expect or deserve. Often, I stumble, trying to do things on my own and placing God second instead of first. He shows mercy over and over giving me many new beginnings. Jesus, my Great Physician, provides me with many blessings and an abundance of mercy. He allows me to feed my soul daily with the good stuff and to reap the benefits of positive actions that have positive consequences. He gives me much more than I could ever give him.
Writing this blog has also been revealing to me. Usually, my first reaction to the phrase, “Actions have consequences,” has been negative, but in reality, the consequence of our actions can also have positive results. Why this shocked me, a very positive thinker, so much was a mystery until I realized that the devil is very subtle and uses many tools to rob us of the joy of a God first life. It reminds me that Galatians 6:7 is true. “Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap” (ESV). Let’s sow actions that result in positive consequences and live a God first life.
Ila Edwards
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