We recently became reacquainted with a high school class
mate of my wife. As we shared the happenings of our life, she shared that she
had received a heart transplant. We were surprised as she told us about this
happening. Her heart became diseased through no fault of her own and was
slowing dying and the doctors were able to give her a "new lease on
life," as they say.
I can remember hearing about the first human heart
transplant taking place many years ago and the feeling of amazement that such a
thing could be done. It's still an amazing thing to me. I can understand some
of the basics regarding the procedure, but no way do I understand the
intricacies involved in all that is done, yet I know it is done on an almost
daily basis. They tell us there are about 2,000 heart transplants per year now.
There are lots of changes that
take place for a person with a heart transplant. They must make lifestyle
changes, change their eating habits, perhaps exercise differently and they are
told, "You'll need to take immunosuppressant medications daily for life to
keep your body from rejecting your donor heart".
As I thought about someone receiving a new heart I realized
it is no different than becoming a child of God. The scripture that came to
mind first was Psalm 51:7-10 where
David writes: "Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be
whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed
rejoice. Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity. Create in me
a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me."
"Create
in me a new pure heart," what an amazing idea for us, yet it
happens to thousands of people every day, perhaps hundreds of thousands every
year in the spiritual realm. It is possible and no less amazing than a physical
heart transplant.
It's
just like what God promised the Israelite nation in Ezekiel 36:26-27, "And I will give you a new heart, and I will
put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give
you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put My Spirit in you so that you
will follow My decrees and be careful to obey My regulations."
(NLT)
That
is what God is about, it's what he does, and He takes out our stony, stubborn
heart and gives us a tender, responsive heart. But just like a physical heart
transplant it needs constant care. Perhaps changes need to be made in our life
style and other physical habits and there will definitely be "sin
suppressant" treatments daily for life to keep us from rejecting our new
heart".
Of
course this all comes from having a new relationship with our God and His Word.
This in part comes from having a new relationship with His church. I have met
so many people in my lifetime who say, "I don't need to go to a church to
feel spiritual," but that's like someone saying, "I don't need to go
to the doctor anymore after I receive my heart transplant". They both are
missing a key ingredient to keeping your heart alive.
How
is your stony, stubborn heart doing? Perhaps it's time to listen to God and
make it tender and responsive once again.
