"I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26 NIV
It's hard to believe, but the first human-to-human heart transplant was over 50 years ago. Now, more than 2,000 transplants are done each year in the United States alone. In addition, there are more than 200,000 bypass surgeries done in the US each year. We thank God for the wisdom and skills he gives the medical professionals to care for this critical muscle.
The Bible often speaks of our souls as our hearts. Like the actual organ, it is essential to our well-being. It also can suffer from disease -- the sickness of sin. The spiritual diagnosis is a hard heart -- a heart of stone. The plaque of sin continues to collect on the soul until all love, compassion, and joy are gone.
God provides a cure, though. He sent Jesus Christ, the great physician, with a spiritual procedure. When we accept Christ, we receive a soul transplant. Removed in forgiveness is that defective chunk of rock, and we are given the heart of God a new Spirit. We can expect to live healthy spiritual lives with frequent check-ups with our general practitioner, the Holy Spirit.
God, we give you thanks for caring for our physical hearts through medical procedures, but more importantly for caring for our spiritual hearts. Thank you for sending your Son Jesus Christ to heal us. Thank you for purifying us through the Holy Spirit. We pray for forgiveness of our sins and that our hearts continue to remain pliable. We pray this in Jesus' name. Amen.
Blessings,
Pastor Tim
