Is Your Heart Overcharged?
When I hear the word, “overhcharged” my mind first thinks of the battery of my laptop when it stopped working. It wouldn’t turn on even when I plugged in the power cord into the outlet. After some research online, I learned that static build up can cause the battery to shut down and quit working as a safety measure. The battery was “overcharged”.
“And take heed to yourselves lest at any time your HEARTS be OVERCHARGED with surfeiting, drunkenness and cares of this life…”
Luke 21:34
Our hearts can also become overcharged. The overcharged in this verse was translated from the Hebrew word βάρος meaning “burdened or pressed down”. This verse tells us our hearts can become burdened and pressed by three down specific things.
Surfeiting: the state of being more than full. Too much stuff, pointless information, meaningless tasks or frivolous entertainment can all cause our heart to be more than full. There is an immeasurable amount of information available at our finger tips in a matter of seconds. I have had days of feeling STUFFED by too much Facebook, too much Instagram or too much Pinterest. There are also the games & quizzes, news & gossip, tv shows & fictional books. Not to say that these things are all wrong in and of themselves, but balance is key. It’s so easy to get sucked into these portals and lose track of time. We may think of these things as mere entertainment but perhaps they are fulfilling a quite different agenda. Maybe we should pay closer attention to our heart. Is your heart stuffed beyond full with things that are pressing it down?
Drunkenness: the state of being stupefied or under the influence. Have you ever eaten so much, all you wanted to do is sleep? My husband and I were visiting a friend and we decided to take him out to dinner. We went to an all-you-can eat Sushi buffet and let me tell you, this man put the food away. Afterwards, he drove us back to our hotel. When we stopped at a stop light, he said, “Tell me when the light turns green. I’ve got close my eyes; I’m going into a food coma.” He obviously was in a state of “surfeiting” and was become “drunk” by food. People who drink to the point of being drunk are an easy target for crime. Their reaction time is slow, their ability to think clearly is gone, and they often do things they never would have done sober. Our hearts can become drunk, stupefied and under the influence of many things. When our hearts are drunk, our reaction time is slow, our ability to think clearly is gone and we do things we wouldn’t have done otherwise. Our hearts become an easy target for our enemy.
Cares of this world: Status, appearance, material possessions, etc. So many ads promising better health, smaller waist line, nicer homes, more hair, etc. It’s all frivolous and vanity. Cares of this world are all temporary and Satan has designed them to consume us. My attitude can be wonderful until I step on that scale. Because of the number that I see, my mood can become depressed, angry, grouchy and downright unpleasant. This is exactly where Satan desires me to be because my heart is burdened, consumed and drunk (stupefied and under the influence, not thinking clearly and doing things I normally wouldn’t do) with the desire to fit an image that this world says I need to be to be desirable. God isn’t as much concerned about the number on the scales as He is the attitude of my heart.
“For as a snare shall it come on all them that dwell on the face of the whole earth.” Luke 21:35
No one is exempt from attacks of the heart. We are warned to take heed, to take care that we don’t become stuffed, drunk, and burdened by the cares of this world because God desires us to escape the trap.
“Watch therefore and pray always that you have strength to escape all these things that are going to take place, and to stand before the Son of Man.” Luke 21:36
I remember the first week I started juicing. I went on a 3 week fast of nothing but fresh green juice. I felt amazing. It gave me more energy than coffee and kept me alert and feeling great all day long. In comparison, after eating a meal full of pasta, bread, saturated fats, I feel bloated, sleepy and pretty miserable. We are called to “watch”, stay alert and pray always so we can have the strength to escape. It is wise to be careful what sort of diet we are feeding our hearts. Are we feeding it saturated fats and empty, starchy calories? Or are we careful to balance our diet with the Bread of Life and the Living Water. Spending time in God’s Word, being alert and in prayer on a daily basis is the best way to keep our hearts from becoming overcharged. While we pursue healthier lifestyle, nutritional eating habits and healing our bodies, let us not forget that real health begins in our Heart.
"Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life." Proverbs 4:23