Vital Signs:

Many years ago, when my mother was seriously ill I spent a lot of time in and out of hospital, ministering to, and trying to comfort her. It was a difficult time, not made any easier by medical staff who insist on using baffling “medi-speak”. They seem to forget that most of us have not spent years in medical school, and that at such times we are usually very concerned, perhaps just a little frightened, and mybe for many of us, staring death in the face for the first time!

   

Two days after Mom’s emergency admission we were ushered into her room as she hovered between this world and the next. The charge nurse casually informed my wife and I that her “vitals were flat”, and they were “very worried about her”. After making further inquiries I discovered that her blood pressure was very low, and that her heart beat had slowed considerably. Her potassium and sodium levels were, according to the nurse, “dangerously low”.  

As I sat with my mother, anxiously watching her drift in and out of a hallucinating unconsciousness, I thought about how our spiritual “vital signs” graphically reflect our relationship with Jesus Christ. I also thought about how God reads those signs, and how He responds to them.

There have been times in life when I wandered away from Him, and I have allowed our relationship to cool. I have been conscious of God “stepping in” when my “spiritual heart beat” has slowed and my blood pressure has fallen dangerously low. As I reflect on those times I am aware that God has sent His “spiritual paramedics” to revive me… and like all paramedics, they don’t waste time with pleasantries!  

Jesus once took the pulse of a rich young man, and discovered that at least one of his vitals was flat!

Another day, a man stopped Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?” Jesus said, "Why do you question me about what's good? God is the One who is good. If you want to enter the life of God, just do what he tells you." The man asked, “What in particular?” Jesus said, “Don't murder, don't commit adultery, don't steal, don't lie, honor your father and mother, and love your neighbor as you do yourself.” The young man said, “I've done all that. What's left?” Matthew 19:16-20 The Message

This young man’s spiritual health appeared to be superficially fine, but the Great Physician knew what was wrong with His patient’s heart! “If you want to give it all you've got,” Jesus replied, “go sell your possessions; give everything to the poor. All your wealth will then be in heaven. Then come follow me.” That was the last thing the young man expected to hear. And so, crestfallen, he walked away. He was holding on tight to a lot of things, and he couldn't bear to let go. Matthew 19:21-22 The Message

It’s never enough to be possessed of negative spiritual health (you know, living the “thou shalt nots) we must be positively healthy… we must show love, and our intentions toward Christ and our fellows must be abundantly clear. We must be working toward perfection. Yet countless millions live like the rich young man, who had been taught by his Jewish teachers that people were to be saved by doing something - that is, by their works. Living an externally blameless life will never “cut the mustard”

Those who do attempt to live such a life are constantly anxious… they question themselves, “Have I done enough?” and they are seldom at peace. There is only one real life…living to the honor God, the other life ends in eternal failure, a prolonged separation from God, of which temporal death is but the feeble image.

How are you vital signs? If Dr. Jesus was to run a physical on you today what would be the diagnosis?