Heart Transplant

One of the teachers of the law came and heard them debating. Noticing that Jesus had given them a good answer, he asked him, “Of all the commandments, which is the most important?” “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.” ( Mark 12:28-31)

Do you ever feel like your faith has been cluttered by Christianity? That serving and doing get in the way of truly loving God?

Do you ever feel like you’re doing so much for Jesus, that you’re hardly spending time with him? That you’ve lost your first love?

Do you ever feel like you want more of Jesus, but not sure how to get it?

If not, stop reading now. This post isn’t for you. But if you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, you might need a heart transplant like me. And I’m glad I’m not alone!

The book Clutter-Free Christianity by Robert Jeffress got me thinking about all these things. How life gets cluttered with doing and how me miss the heart of God which desires for us to be fully devoted to him and to love others as we love ourselves. Seems like a simple commandment. Then why isn’t it?

Some nuggets from the book I’m still pondering:

“Christians tend to get it backward when it comes to our relationship with God. We try to modify our behavior without ever doing anything to transform our hearts, where our behavior originates.”

“What God wants from you and for you, above all else, is for you to resemble Jesus Christ in you attitudes, actions, and affections.” (Romans 8:29, 12:2, 2 Corinthians 3:18)

“It’s far too easy to equate spiritual information with spiritual transformation.” (OUCH!)

My heart’s desire is to be more like Jesus, but my flesh, the fatty tissue surrounding my heart gets in the way. Heart transformation, or maybe a transplant is what I need. What I desire.

But like any kind of surgery, it’s going to be uncomfortable and painful at times, but a new heart will be worth it. I’m going to cry and kick and scream and beg God to put me under anesthetic and just do it. But I don’t think that’s his way. To get all the clutter and garbage out of my faith, out of my heart, he’s going to want me wide awake and it’s gonna hurt. GULP!

I’m looking forward to the rest of the book and I’m ready for my heart transplant!

How about you?

One Response to Heart Transplant
  1. Shera
    April 1, 2009 | 12:15 am

    Thank you so very much for the oh-so-needed reminder! It is far to easy to get caught up in the everyday and simply forget to take care of the heart matters!