Some people literally have a change of heart. Tony Huesman received his in 1978 at age 20. John McCafferty got his new heart in 1982. Former Vice President Dick Cheney joined this exclusive club in 2012.
Still, we mostly think of a change of heart in emotional terms. We love him, and then we decide we don’t. We study for the medical field before learning counseling is more our interest.
A change of heart can also mean to change our convictions. We spend our spare cash on ourselves, until a missionary’s call grabs hold of our every thought. We believe God is a distant and unknowable Creator, and one day he speaks to us in a very specific way.
Luke 7:1-10 tells the story of a man who was not in line to receive help from Jesus. Yet, there was something special about his heart.
“After [Jesus] had finished all his sayings in the hearing of the people, he entered Capernaum. Now a centurion had a servant who was sick and at the point of death, who was highly valued by him. When the centurion heard about Jesus, he sent to him elders of the Jews, asking him to come and heal his servant. And when they came to Jesus, they pleaded with him earnestly, saying, ‘He is worthy to have you do this for him, for he loves our nation, and he is the one who built us our synagogue.’ ”
The story goes on to illustrate the faith of the centurion, and how he believed in Jesus’ power to heal, even before Our Lord came to his house.
The centurion had the heart of Jesus, and his faith brought healing to his servant.
Our spiritual change of heart is a transplant like no other, and we don’t even have to have a doctor put a scalpel to our chest. We simply believe on Jesus and his power to make us new, and we are made fresh once again, with his heart of love beating in us. He gives us new life in the process, and we can look forward to a long life with him.
Tony Huesman wore his new heart for 30 years. When he died in 2009, it was from cancer. His new heart still worked fine. John McCafferty (as of December 2013) was still ticking along. Dick Cheney soldiers on with the tenacity of a seasoned politician.
How are our hearts doing, the ones we’ve received from Jesus? They can last us forever. All it takes is faith in the one who gave his life for us on the cross.
Faith washes us clean, and we become brand new in Christ our Lord.
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Code: FGO.E.06.15.vp.esv