Ever since my open-heart surgery in May, I’ve thought a lot about “hearts of stone” and “hearts of flesh.” After the surgery, my surgeon described my aortic valve as “very calcified.” In other words, it was like stone—very hardened.
I was born with what is called a bicuspid valve, which means that instead of the normal three leaves in the valve opening, mine had two. For some unknown reason, a bicuspid valve is very prone to calcification. Over decades, the valve hardens and narrows. By the time of my surgery, my valve had an opening the size of a pencil. A normal opening is akin to diameter of a garden hose. Thus, it desperately needed to be replaced. My life was at risk.
Spiritually, the human heart is also prone to hardening. Acts of rebellion and disobedience over time slowly lead to a calcification of the conscience. The blood flow of life is slowly diminished and people, unbeknownst to them, live on the precarious edge of spiritual death. Just as I did in a physical sense, they live their lives in a normal way, mostly unaware of the dangerous path they are on. That is right out of the playbook of the enemy, that we live our lives as we please and remain in the dark of our true condition.
I was like that with my heart condition. For years I had known my aortic valve was going to be a problem. The doctors told me so. But I had no symptoms, so I carried on with my life. In the last couple of years, the alarm bells were being sounded by my cardiologist, but still I had no symptoms and so, as the British say, I kept calm and carried on. But last spring was different. A heart catheterization procedure revealed the valve was going bad quickly and my “moment of truth” came when my wife and I consulted with the surgeon who performed the replacement surgery and he used his pencil illustration to describe my valve. It was then I knew exactly how precarious my situation was. Still, I was powerless to do anything, except to ask for his help to correct the problem.
The Israelites were in the same position, as each of us is—we can’t fix our heart problem ourselves. We need an expert to do it. Our hearts of stone can only be turned into hearts of flesh by seeking out the Lord. But it’s a scary thing to turn our hearts over to someone else. I remember the fear and uncertainty my wife and I felt as we committed to the surgery. Yet, we knew it had to be done; the only alternative was death.
In essence, this is the choice we face spiritually—either we give our hearts fully over to the Lord or we will die. And I can say without hesitancy, having been on the other side of both the physical and spiritual choices, the uncertainty and pain are worth getting to the other side! My physical life has been transformed, as I described yesterday, by my decision to place my trust in my surgeon and allow him to do the surgery. I have no regrets. And I have never regretted my decision on that November day of my freshmen year in college to turn my heart of stone over to the Lord. I rejoice always in the way he has transformed my life and look upon my formal life without one whit of nostalgia.
What about you? What is the condition of your heart? Is there a softness to it, an openness to the Lord? Or is it more hardened, resistant to His work? If it is the latter, know you are in a very precarious position and are denying yourself the blessings that a renewed heart brings. My advice is to let Him do what He is skilled to do. I guarantee you will have no regrets.
© Jim Musser 2017
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