Fit As In Bit

The Lord blessed me with the two best sisters-in-law in the world; Sally, who is married to Dave and Karen, who is married to Scott. Both put up with me during the holidays but it goes deeper than that. Sally has changed my life with her wardrobe suggestions and Karen handles my orders anytime I have to purchase anything online. They are especially terrific around the holiday season. I admit to being intellectually lazy and relying on the gift card route for Christmas presents but not these ladies. Sally apparently tired of my ten year old WCS coaching jacket and so I was gifted with a monogrammed blue fleece! At Thanksgiving, in response to Karen's prodding, I related that I would like a FITBIT if possible. I'd seen the generic versions online in the $30 range so I thought it might be feasible. Guess what? It was! Well, it had to be programmed and explained by my nephew, Nate, who also was the recipient of the FITBIT Charge 2. I don't have a Smartphone but Nate hooked it up to my laptop so I can get readings without looking at the device. I'm thirteen days in and getting used to taking care of wearing something not clothes related. It takes some time but I'm adjusting.

You might wonder why I asked for a FITBIT. I already work out with weights and on a treadmill but I knew a FITBIT counts steps and 15,000 per day seems to be the magic number. I also knew if my steps were being recorded, I would be more likely to move around more during my planning periods and when at home. And I found it has a number of other features like monitoring sleep habits and breaking down movement hour by hour. But the most pleasant surprise was that it gives a constant heart rate, both beats per minute and resting heart rate. I've always suspected I had a pretty good rate, going back to a college class when we were taught how to measure it but in my mind, of suspect accuracy as you had to count pulses on your wrist or neck for thirty seconds and multiply by two. Although I know the FITBIT is not a medical device and can vary somewhat, my heart rate is consistently low. Yesterday, when I woke up, it was 42 and once I've seen it at 38. I told my nephew, Ben, I may start running marathons! (One of my favorite quotes was by a marathoner who said he only knew one guy with a lower pulse- and he was dead!) I do know this- low heart rates are usually synonymous with a good heart so I am excited with what I've found out since Christmas.

The Bible talks extensively about the heart. David was a man after God's own heart. Jesus said the pure in heart will see God. We are to love the Lord with all of our hearts. We know the Israelites hardened their hearts in the wilderness. In the more than five hundred uses of the term heart in the Scriptures, it's rare to find it used in anything but a spiritual setting. I've begun noticing others with FITBITS-- I've already had two conversations about mine with colleagues in less than seventy-two hours! But when I mention the apparent condition of my heart, it has not been the one that matter most. In 1899, Elsiah Hoffman penned a marvelous short hymn whose chorus reads as follows:
Is thy heart right with God,
Washed in the crimson flood,
Cleansed and made holy, humble and lowly,
Right in the sight of God?
That's what I really need to ponder. My physical heart may beat perfectly tonight but I could drop dead of a heart attack in the morning. Apparently healthy people dies suddenly every day of the week. But the man or woman whose heart beats in time with the will of God should have no fear of death. They are already fit for the kingdom.

Applicable quote of the day:
In all ranks of life the human heart yearns for the beautiful; and the beautiful things that God makes are his gift to all alike. 
Harriet Beecher Stowe

Applicable quote of the day, # 2:
“The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord: and he delighteth in his way.” 
Psalm 37:23 KJV


God bless,
Steve
Luke 18:1
www.hawleybooks.com
E-mail me at steve@hawleybooks.com