I had a medical procedure done this week. That name sounds so vague, so clinical, so nondescript that I don’t know why they use it. Perhaps the words are meant to convey reassurance as they tell you they need to cut you open and remove something that is causing you pain. Some people have a morbid fear of surgery and will suffer terribly or take medicine for years, rather than consider that to get some relief. I am the opposite and prefer surgery to the side effects of medicine and other long-term treatments.
My procedure was in fact a minor operation to remove a small but painful bit of inflamed tissue from my body. Putting me to sleep during the surgery is much simpler than trying to numb the affected area and I prefer to be under during the whole thing and wake up after it’s finished. I had to stay awake when they worked on my eyes, and though it wasn’t painful, I’d rather not listen as the Doctors describe how they are cutting into my flesh.
Don’t get me wrong, it is a serious matter anytime they put you to sleep and perform surgery. No amount of clinical jargon can remove the possibility of something going wrong. Statistically speaking everything will be fine and the procedure will help and not hurt, but despite all their years of training, the finest equipment, and carefully following the best-known practices, things can go seriously wrong. They are human and so is this body they are working on.
I had another procedure performed many years ago and it was much more serious than this one. I needed a new heart and there was only one who could help me. Fortunately, He knew my condition was serious and was standing by waiting for me to agree to the surgery. All I had to do was accept His offer and He took care of the rest.
It must have been expensive! Yes, it cost more than I could ever pay, but it was freely given to me! Why would anyone give you a new heart? It was because of His love for me! I received a new heart because “God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life” (John 3:16 KJV). Oh, you mean religion. No, I mean the greatest love story ever!
GOD knew my sin had damaged my heart, so He washed away my sin and said, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh” (Eze 36:26 KJV) and He did! He didn’t just try to fix it; He took out the old heart and gave me a new one! I was dying with the old one, but now I have new life and will live forever!
If it’s so great, why doesn’t everybody get one? The offer is open to “whosoever” but the thief “hath blinded their eyes, and hardened their heart; that they should not see with their eyes, nor understand with their heart, and be converted, and I should heal them” (John 12:40 KJV). That is why we must let our “light shine before men” (Mat 5:16 KJV) so they will be drawn to JESUS, who is waiting to forgive their sin and give them a new heart!
Wayne Lance (2022) – That’s Good News to Share!