A Heart Transplant

by tariqkelly
Monday Reflection – January 29, 2018
A Heart Transplant
I will give them one heart, and put a new spirit within them. Ezekiel 11:19

March 13, 2006 was a life-changing day for Daniel and Sharron Cogbill. Daniel had been on the waiting list for a heart transplant since August 2005. He had a triple bypass several years earlier, but his condition had deteriorated and he relied on pacemakers to keep his heartbeat steady. Shortly after noon on March 13, the Cogbills got a call telling them Daniel was one of two candidates to match a donor heart that had become available. The healthy heart was transplanted and Daniel had the opportunity to live longer. 

While Daniel desperately needed a physical heart transplant, God offers a new heart to every sinful being. In Ezekiel 11, God says he will remove all the idol gods and bestow a new heart and new spirit within the people. Stony hearts will be replaced by hearts of flesh – an undivided heart.
 
This new heart is in opposition to a heart divided between the true God and idols, wavering and halting between two opinions, sometimes serving God, and sometimes idols. It is a heart that pursues undivided worship, and serves the Lord; a heart sincere to God; a heart that seeks only to honour and glorify God and is firmly attached to his word and worship.
 
This new spirit is not hardened by sin; destitute of spiritual life, senseless and stupid as to spiritual things; stubborn and inflexible, nor impenitent. This new spirit is governed by the Holy Spirit of God, who regenerates and renovates humans into “a new creature”. This new spirit comes with a new mindset; a new understanding of ourselves and our relationship with God; a new focus on divine things and Gospel truths; new affections for God; new purposes and resolutions to serve the Lord; indeed all things have become new. Paul affirms this in today’s Doctrinal text: If anyone is in Christ, there is a new creation: everything old has passed away; see, everything has become new! 2 Corinthians 5:17
 
Is this our prayer for our beloved country Jamaica, plagued by crime and violence? Until and unless we all submit to God and receive new hearts and spirits, the violence and bloodletting will only get worse. ZOSO has not reduced crime. The state of emergency in St. James can do so much and no more. A transformation of the hearts of men and women by the power of God is the only sustained solution. The work of the church is needed now more than ever. No longer can we cower in fear or remain in the hallowed walls of our churches unconcerned about our country. We have to rise at the ever-beckoning call of God and summon our brothers and sisters in Jamaica to a new and better way of living. We have to show them a better way that requires submission to the will of God….a heart transplant.  
 
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Fill me with life anew,
That I may love the things you love,
And do what you would do.
Breathe on me, Breath of God,
Till I am wholly Thine,
Until this earthly part of me
Glows with Thy fire divine.
Till next week, let’s offer ourselves to God anew for a new heart and a new spirit. 
 
Jermaine Gibson