As amazing as our hearts are, eventually they WILL stop. What does God have planned for us afterward?

20 The tongue of the righteous is choice silver, but the heart of the wicked is of little value.

Yesterday, we learned that the heart is actually two pumps in one, one pumping blood to the lungs for oxygen and the other pumping blood to the body. Today, we will learn about why the heart never wears out, what keeps it from sliding around inside the ribcage, and how it keeps from overheating.

Two pumps in one:

In Place and Lubricated
“The human body has an amazing ability to keep organs stable as we run, jump, and twirl. That may seem easy for kidneys or our bladder, but the heart presents an extra difficulty. It is pumping vigorously all the time. How can it keep moving without sliding around inside the ribcage or overheating?
To protect this nonstop muscle, God placed it in a special two-layered bag, called the pericardial sac. The tough outer layer of the sac, called the fibrous pericardium, attaches tightly to the heart. A special lubricant fluid between the two layers allows the heart to slide around with little friction. If it were not for this marvelous lubricated sac, the beating heart would create enough heat to kill us.” Taken from, “A Pocket Guide to the Human Body,” page 43

As for never tiring, “God designed a separate system of nerves called the autonomic nervous system. These nerves differ from the nerves of our five senses because they continuously transmit without fail. They don’t get overwhelmed with information (like the strain on your eyes from staring too long at a bright tie-dyed shirt), so they don’t tire out.
Yet our hearts are different from typical autonomic systems. Most systems, like digestion, don’t have to run constantly. The heart, on the other hand, must function all the time. So God gave the heart a built-in pacemaker that allows it to run regularly, without active outside control.
Sitting on the upper right side of the heart is a cluster of specialized cells called the sinoatrial node. They generate electrical impulses that stimulate the muscles in the upper chambers to contract. The signal continues moving down to another cluster of cells above the lower chambers, which then fire.
These electrical impulses ebb and flow in regular waves, without the need for direct input from the brain.
If needed, however, the brain can directly control heart rate and blood pressure. The brain constantly monitors the heart to evaluate when to step in.” (page 44)

Adrenaline is a big part of how the brain helps the heart help us during strenuous exercise.

As we can see, we can trust God with our bodies. They WERE designed to last forever, but not anymore; sin took care of that. We have this promise, though, in 2 Corinthians 4:16,

¹⁶ Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.

The Spirit in us would have kept not only the inward person renewed, but the outer person renewed, as well. These physical bodies are part of the old covenant. Jesus has new bodies awaiting us beyond this physical world,

For we know that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in heaven, not built by human hands. ² Meanwhile we groan, longing to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, ³ because when we are clothed, we will not be found naked. ⁴ For while we are in this tent, we groan and are burdened, because we do not wish to be unclothed but to be clothed instead with our heavenly dwelling, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. ⁵ Now the one who has fashioned us for this very purpose is God, who has given us the Spirit as a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. 2 Corinthians 5:2-5

Abba, it is this promise, this guarantee, that gives us hope for the future. We are confident that You will keep Your promise to keep us with You and to see You in Your glory (John 17:24). May we keep the main thing the main thing: Trusting You daily for everything. Amen.