There are athletes among us.  There are trainers among us.  There are plenty of people who know what to do to maximize heart health to be the “best that we can be.”  A “good” cardio workout and good cardio health has objective standards.  It is more than just getting your heart rate to increase.  My heart rate increases when I hear a turkey gobble or catch a big fish…that hardly qualifies as a cardio workout or good heart health.  We also refer to our “inner life” as our heart.  Of course we are not referring to the organ that pumps blood but we are referring to the part of our humanity where we make decisions; this is “spiritual.”   The physical heart is a wonder of creation but the inner heart is also a marvel.  Under the heading of “the heart” we typically think about thinking, feeling, choosing, and repenting.  If we want to consider our inner heart health there are also objective standards.  Jesus taught that we could know something about the health of our heart by what we say and how we live.  A good heart routinely produces good words and good deeds.  A bad heart routinely produces bad words and bad deeds.  God would like us to all have good hearts and He has given us everything we need to reflect His goodness in that way.  However, we have to cooperate with Him to see goodness develop.  He works in us both to “will and to do of His good pleasure,” but we must work with Him to “make our calling and election sure.”  I really think Jesus is referring to this cooperation in Matthew 6:19-23 and in our text for Sunday, Matthew 12:35.  The picture in Matthew 12 is of a strong box; we only take out of the box what we put in.  What we put in is what we treasure…if we treasure goodness, it will come out.  If we treasure badness, it will come out.  It is the law of sowing and reaping that Paul wrote about in Galatians 5.  If we sow to the flesh we reap corruption.  If we sow to the spirit, we will reap life everlasting/quality of life.  So, how’s your heart today?  I pray it is filled with good that you have placed there…and that it is ready to share with others as the Lord allows.