This Sunday I'm speaking on the subject of maintaining a healthy heart. It's based on Step 10 of the 12 Steps that we've been walking, through the past 7 months as a church. Step 10 has to do with carefully caring for our spiritual garden and dealing ruthlessly with any weeds that pop up. Here's a story that illustrates what I mean.
You'll remember in 1987 when President- hopeful Gary Hart had a well publisized fling with Donna Rice. They were spotted on his boat, called Monkey Business, in the Bahamas and the news spread like wildfire.
At the time, Donna was a backslidden Christian. She'd received Christ as a teen and her life was thereafter wrapped totally around her church. When she went away to college, she began to slip away from God. The scandal with Gary Hart almost destroyed her.
Donna resigned her job and publishers hounded her. They were willing to pay millions to tell her story. As she wrestled with her decision, her grandmother counselled her, "Before you make any decision, get your life back on track with God." She was stunned. Donna had not even realized that she could put the entire mess in his big hands.
She said, "I collapsed on the floor and sobbed. I knew I, and no one else, was responsible for my choices. I cried out to God and told him that it took falling on my rear in front of the whole world for him to get my attention. I asked him to help me live my life from then on, his way."
"God answered my cry by flooding me with his presence and forgiveness, and surrounding me with Christian friends." Thank God that when we slip off the path he has prepared for us, we can not only be restored but be made even stronger.
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