Have A New "Heart" - On Jesus

"Today's Devotion" For February 15, 2006

Read: Colossians 3:1-17;Psalm 51

HAVE A NEW "HEART" - ON JESUS

"Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me...a broken and contrite heart, O God, You will not despise." (Psalm 51:10, 17b)

She was 64 years old. She walked into her doctor's office for a check-up, fully intending to attend a wedding afterward. He told her she couldn't even go home. Her heart was so diseased - a condition that runs in her family - that she needed a heart transplant or she would die. Today, eight years later, now 74 years old, she has seen two great- grandchildren born and life has had a greater meaning for her since that fateful day eight years ago. She received this new "lease on life" because a woman in Kentucky, two years her junior, died and her organs were donated.

She has a "new heart." It was a gift from someone who didn't need it anymore. Because someone said, "Have a new heart – on me," literally, this lady has a new lease on life. It replaced her old, diseased heart which was carrying her to her grave faster than a healthy heart might have done. True, she could have walked out of the doctor's office that day, been hit by a car, and died. It wouldn't have been her heart that put her in the grave, but she still would have been dead and buried, diseased heart and all. If we acknowledge the reality of life, there's not a whole lot that's guaranteed. Life, the most precious of all our "possessions" is, by far, the least guaranteed. It can be snuffed out in an instant, without a second thought, and we're gone from this earth. Our loved ones, our friends, our careers, our property, and our dreams mean nothing in the face of death - dreams that, perhaps, may live on as but distant memories in the minds of those left behind.

While there are many illnesses, diseases, organ failures, and "accidents" that can bring death into our lives, only the heart stands out as, perhaps, the most critical of those things, for without a heart we die. We note, of course, that medical science has developed artificial hearts, but they're not all that reliable and often are rejected by the human body. In the meantime, we can stand the loss of a kidney, have a part of our livers and stomachs removed, lose a limb, a finger, or a toe, or have an appendix removed and we're still able to live, with the assistance, over the long-term, of machines if necessary. While we're also blessed with the medical know-how to harvest and transplant organs, including hearts, we also know that rejection is a very real concern, and most people have to continue to take anti-rejection drugs for the rest of their lives.

Hearts, however, have an even deeper meaning for life in the Scriptures, for in Scripture the heart is the source of life, the seat of Sin, and the place of relationship with God. While I can't attest to this statement because I haven't fully checked it out, I'm guessing that there isn't a book of the Bible that doesn't speak about the importance one's heart plays in our relationship with God. Jesus cautions us that "out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. These are what make a man 'unclean'...(Matthew 15:19, 20a)." The "heart" is the place of trouble and despair, as evidenced by Jesus' words to the disciples when they were growing fearful about His impending death on the cross, "Do not let your hearts be troubled. Trust in God; trust also in Me" (John 14:1). Psalm 51 is a Psalm of David, who is crying out from an anguished "heart," burdened with the guilt and sorrow of his sins before God. He seeks God's mercy, unfailing love, and forgiveness, asking Him to "create" a pure heart in him - turning him toward God's love and away from Sin's allure and evil. David's cry is for a "heart transplant," a new, pure and holy life dedicated in service to God.

By God's grace in Jesus Christ we, too, have received "heart transplants." In His death and resurrection we have received new life - a new "heart" - for an eternity with Him. We have, by the washing of the water and the Word in Holy Baptism, received full pardon and forgiveness for all our sins, having had them wiped away from God's memory, and have had our "hearts" and lives turned toward Him. Our "hearts" are new again through faith in Jesus as our Lord and Savior from Sin. Our "hearts" are renewed and filled with a life filled with God's love, grace, mercy, and forgiveness. Jesus' suffering, death, and resurrection brings new life to everyone who believes in Him. It's as if God has come to us and said, :"Have a new 'heart' - on Jesus - and be Mine forever.

Prayer: Father, You have given this world so many blessings that they can't be counted. In fact, Father, it's pretty obvious to me that the world, including me, forgets most of them and rarely acknowledges them. Your gifts to medical science include the ability to transplant organs so that people's lives on earth might continue longer than they might otherwise have continued because the ravages of Sin took their toll. Forgive me for too often failing to recognize and acknowledge Your gifts and blessings to me in my life, particularly taking for granted the "clean heart" and "renewed spirit" You have given me through faith in Jesus. Your forgiveness and love are new to me each morning. Each day, in the power of my Baptism, You remind my by Your Word and Spirit that You have invited me to "have a new 'heart' on Jesus." Fill my "heart" with the joy of this gift and strengthen my faith so that I might share the gift of my new "heart" with others - giving them Your invitation to have a new "heart" as well, on Jesus. In His precious and most holy name I pray. Amen.
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--Pastor Boeck

Copyright © 2006 Rev. Richard J. Boeck, Jr. All rights reserved.