Behold, the Implantable Loop Recorder (Medtronics),measuring 1 3/4″L x 1/4″W x 1/8″H!
“We somehow have an inverted sense of measurement in that big things seem to us small or familiar while small things become big to us, at least in terms of our time and attention and energy.”- Jared C. Wilson, The Imperfect Disciple
“And we all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another.”- 2 Corinthians 3:18
In July 2015, a severe infection caused my heart to go into atrial fibrillation (AFib). Following my second ER visit in three days, the attending physician referred me to Dr. Imran Niazi, an electrophysiologist. After an echocardiogram, Dr. Niazi advised inserting an Implantable Loop Recorder (IRL) to monitor my daily heart activity. On 20 August 2015, Dr. Niazi inserted the device under the skin on the left side of my chest. He positioned it above the left atrium of the heart.
For the next two years, the transmission monitor next to my side of the bed recorded the day’s heart activity when I walked within 10 feet of it. However, to the glory of God, the monitor never recorded any AFib events! Consequently, on 27 July 2015, Dr. Niazi extracted the device. Also, the attending technicians deemed it “highly unusual” for the device to record not even a trace of activity.
When I returned home from St. Luke’s Medical Center, I took time to behold the amazing recorder – my familiar companion for two years. Writing in The Imperfect Disciple, Jared C. Wilson defines behold as follows – “to ‘hold’ something in our vision, to let the weight of it rest on our mind and heart.” Although the current model of the IRL comes in at 87% smaller than the previous one, the technology behind it boggles the mind. Small in size, yet big in stature.
Similarly, Jared observes, we’re parched, starving, thirsty, and hungry for the glory of Jesus. However, we keep stepping over Jesus’ glory on the sidewalk. But, every day when you encounter Jesus, you face two choices: simply looking at Him or actually trying to behold Him. Jared believes that one reason Christ’s glory fails to captivate us centers on our diminished capacity for anything gloriously big to enthrall us. Instead, we zero in our focus on small, worldly things. This creates in inverted sense of measurement. All kinds of media bombard us, while the gospel seems so one-note and familiar. Therefore, Jared counsels, turn some things off and put some things down. In other words, rather than doing something, just sit there.
In conclusion, Pastor Wilson asserts, our inverted sense of measurement boils down to one thing:
“We have, fundamentally, a worship problem, and so long as we are occupying our minds with little, worldly things and puny, worldly messages, we will shrink our capacity to behold the eternal glory of Jesus Christ, which is the antidote to all that ails us.”
“Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world.”- John 1:29
