I have seen many people who wonder why they do not have health when they are eating good foods and getting plenty of water. They go on to say they get lots of rest and go out in the sunshine almost every day

When I check their pulse I can usually determine the underlying cause of their lack of health. Most times, their pulse does not throb strongly under the gentle pressure of my fingers. I then ask them the revealing question, “Do you exercise regularly?”

When there is a slight hesitation or their answer begins with “Well…” I know what the problem behind their lack of health is.

Unless the human heart is pushed beyond its comfort range of around 70 beats per minute, it shortens the life of its owner. A good resting heart rate should be between 45-60 strong beats per minute. The interesting thing about a good healthy heart is that it cannot be healthy without the muscles of the body working hard.

Our spiritual life has a similar operating principle; if we are not active in winning souls to Christ, we are spiritually dying. We are not performing the exercises that are so necessary to soul health and which will take us outside of our spiritual comfort zone. What may have once been a good strong presence of Christ in the life can become a weak presence of Christ in the life, a weakened hold on the Author of life, due to this lack of exercise.

Let us check your Christian pulse for a moment.

Are you currently having Bible studies with someone outside of your faith?
Do you keep copies of Steps to Christ or other materials with you to give away?
Do you pray for witnessing opportunities? Are you prepared, or preparing, to give a Scriptural answer for your beliefs?

Your answers to these simple questions help determine your spiritual health. We as a Church have the truth. With so much truth also comes the responsibility of sharing with others the things we have been given in order to keep us healthy from a spiritual standpoint. Let’s face it; we have exactly what this world needs from health reform to spiritual revival.

What would interest Jesus the most about our lives when all is said and done?

Would He be impressed that we kept ourselves free from debt? Would He get excited about us having a great credit rating, or that we dressed well, or had many well-kept properties?

We all know that these things will not matter in the judgment. If these things will not matter then, then they really do not matter now. Yes, the Christian should pay off incurred debts and be neat and tidy but these are not to become our focus.

When men and women have formed characters which God can endorse, when their self-denial and self-sacrifice have been fully made, when they are ready for the final test, ready to be introduced into God's family, what service will stand highest in the estimation of Him who gave Himself a willing offering to save a guilty race? What enterprise will be most dear to the heart of infinite love? What work will bring the greatest satisfaction and joy to the Father and the Son?--The salvation of perishing souls (Selected Messages Volume 1, 90-91 Emphasis supplied).

It takes effort to exercise hard for 30 minutes three to four days a week plus do brisk walking out in the fresh air for another 30 minutes every day. But these efforts bring a trainload of blessings with them to the heart, and through the heart to the rest of the body as well. When I feel the pulse of someone who does these things it throbs with a strong undercurrent of life-giving blood. In fact, I can see it in their faces before I ever take their pulse.

If the mind is free and happy, from a consciousness of right-doing and a sense of satisfaction in causing happiness to others, it creates a cheerfulness that will react upon the whole system, causing a freer circulation of the blood, and a toning up of the entire body. The blessing of God is a healing power, and those who are abundant in benefiting others will realize that wondrous blessing in both heart and life (Christian Temperance and Bible Hygiene, 13.3).

It will take effort to get outside of your comfort zone but get going on the spiritual exercises mentioned earlier that the Christian pulse within you can beat strongly with the undercurrent of the life of Christ. If you are wasting away spiritually, please start exercising before it is too late. Even while you took the time to read this article, there may be someone you know who is dying outside of Christ. We owe it to Jesus to do something now, while we still have time, while Jesus still pleads in the heavenly sanctuary.

Every effort made for Christ will react in blessing upon ourselves. If we use our means for His glory, He will give us more. As we seek to win others to Christ, bearing the burden of souls in our prayers, our own hearts will throb with the quickening influence of God's grace; our own affections will glow with more divine fervor; our whole Christian life will be more of a reality, more earnest, more prayerful (Christ's Object Lessons, 354).