Heart Transplant – Receiving a New Heart!

A dear friend of my daughter got a new heart this morning!  We’re absolutely amazed that in just four hours the doctors can replace a sick and inferior heart with a healthy, effective one.  And only two years ago, her father had the same surgery!  He received his life back – one of productivity and energy and stamina.  Our prayer is that Natalie’s body will accept this heart and have life again.  (see update at bottom of post)

This family has a genetic weakness that predisposes them to heart problems, which weaken the heart, making it incapable of functioning properly or providing them with the blood flow necessary to live normally.  All that has kept her alive in through this last year of illness were doctors and hospitals and amazing drugs.  As much as I dislike hospitals and doctors, this family has learned to appreciate these annoyances which offer them life.

We Need New Hearts!

Isn’t it that way for all people – even those with healthy physical hearts?  Our spiritual hearts are predisposed to sin and death.  They are weak, inferior, and in need of repair.  We humans are incapable of functioning normally without a spiritual heart transplant.

But here’s that amazing news!  God offers us the Great Physician, Jesus, who alone offers us that heart transplant.  He alone can offer us new life – one of productivity and energy and stamina – to stay the course of human and eternal life.  Only His transplant is what offers us a normal earthly life as God intended us to live, and a beautiful life eternal.  Through Christ alone.

I probably won’t like His prescribed ‘treatments’ in the form of life’s lessons, or the harsh environment of the “hospital” in the form of experiences and life here on earth.  But just like our friends, I must learn to trust that His prescriptions are what offer me life, and life abundant!   It is best to learn to appreciate the discomfort that comes with healing.  Those often harsh treatments bring me closer to the person God desires me to be, and closer to the Heaven, which is my eternal home.

So today I am praising God for His amazing gift :  His gift of new physical life to our dear friend, Natalie and her dad, Paul; and for His incredible power to transform me, to transform each one of us!  Let us give Him our old, tired hearts and be grateful for the new one He offers.  Then, and only then, will we be capable of running this race with renewed energy, peace, and joy – all the while having the beautiful picture of our eternal existence with God.

I pray that Natalie’s body will accept her new heart, and that we will accept our new hearts and enjoy life abundant!  (Update – It’s been three years now, since Natalie’s transplant.  She is living an amazingly normal life, feeling strong, and loving every minute of it!  God is certainly merciful.)

“They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.” (Mark 2:17)