With a new heart into the new year!

331 with a new heart in the new yearJohn Bell had the opportunity to do something most of us will hopefully never be able to do: He held his own heart in his hands. Two years ago he underwent a heart transplant, which was successful. Thanks to the Heart to Heart program at Baylor University Medical Center in Dallas, he was now able to hold the heart that had kept him alive for 70 years before it needed to be replaced. This amazing story reminds me of my own heart transplant. This was not a “physical” heart transplant – all who follow Christ have experienced the spiritual version of this process. The brutal reality of our sinful nature is that it causes spiritual death. The prophet Jeremiah stated it clearly: “The heart is a stubborn and despondent thing; Who can fathom it?" (Jeremiah 17,9).

When we are confronted with the reality of our spiritual “heart function,” it is hard to imagine having any hope. Our chance of survival is zero. But the wonderful thing happens for us: Jesus offers us the only possible chance for spiritual life: a heart transplant in the deepest core of our being. The Apostle Paul describes this bountiful gift as the regeneration of our humanity, the renewal of our human nature, the transformation of our minds and the liberation of our will. This is all part of the work of salvation in which God the Father works through his Son and by means of the Holy Spirit. Through universal salvation we are given the wonderful opportunity to exchange our old, dead heart for his new, healthy one - a heart overflowing with his love and imperishable life. Paul said: "For we know that our old man was crucified with him, that the body of sin might be destroyed, so that we might not serve sin any more. For whoever has died has become free from sin. But if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him" (Romans 6,6-8).

God has made a wonderful exchange through Christ so that we can have a new life in Him that is part of His communion with the Father and the Holy Spirit. As we enter the New Year, let us remember that each day of our lives we owe nothing but the grace and goodness of the one who called us - our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ!

by Joseph Tkach