My wife and I got the Apple Watch for our birthdays this year. One of the key features of the watch is tracking your heart rate through the day. I have never thought much about my heart rate or had any device to track it consistently. The main thought I have observed is that the watch can track and gain all types of data just by tracking my heart rate. It can track my sleep patterns knowing when I wake, toss-and-turn, or get up out of bed. It tracks resting heart rate and walking heart rate. I have been fascinated with how my heart rate has to rapidly increase at the start of a jog, but then slowly continues upward while I run. This explains why starting a jog and “getting going” is the toughest part. It can monitor my heart rate for dangerous patterns or spikes. I had never thought of all that could be known by my heart rate.
This got me to thinking, which sometimes leads to some odd thoughts! What if this watch monitored my Spiritual Heart Rate (SHR) rather than my physical one. This SHR would indicate my love and intimacy with God. It could warn me when it got too low, and my love for God was growing cold. My needed daily exercise SHR would come through prayer and Bible reading. My SHR would increase when I saw a beautiful sunset or observed all the blessings of my life. My SHR would be expected to rise and maintain a high level as I worship with the church. My SHR would be expected to never stop. I should have a SHR when I am at work, on the lake, at home, or at church. It doesn’t just show up once a week!
So how is your spiritual heart rate? What would tracking it look like in your life?
“The precepts of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart” (Psalm 19:8)
