A New Heart

I greet you in Jesus’ precious name! It is Wednesday morning, the 6th of November, 2024, and this is your friend, Angus Buchan, with a thought for today.

We start in the Book of Ezekiel 36:26:

”I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.”

Then we go to 2 Corinthians 5:17, a very well known scripture, one of my favourites, and this is what it says:

”Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

A new heart! You know, fifty-two years ago, on the 3rd of December, 1967, the first heart transplant was performed by Dr Christiaan Barnard in Cape Town. The whole world was ecstatic. A man who was dying of heart failure, his old heart was taken out of him, and someone else who had donated their heart was put into this man and he lived. I want to tell you, today that’s still the greatest miracle of all, the most beautiful thing to see is someone who has had a change of heart, where the Lord Jesus Christ has performed spiritual surgery in a man’s heart.

I love the story of Zacchaeus, that little short man who climbed up the wild fig tree, the sycamore tree to see Jesus coming into Jericho. Jesus looked up into the tree and said, ”Zacchaeus I’m coming to your house today. I’m coming to have a meal with you.” Zacchaeus was overwhelmed. You see, he was a bad man, folks. He was a thief, he even stole from his own people. He was a tax collector. He called all the other tax collectors together. They came to Zacchaeus’ house and what happened? There was a heart transplant. A heart transplant took place in that feast. Zacchaeus found Jesus Christ. His heart was changed. He said, “If I’ve stolen anything from anyone, I will give them back four-fold, that’s four hundred per cent of anything that I’ve stolen from anyone.” That is a completely new man!

What about Saul of Tarsus, Paul? From being an arch-enemy of Christianity, he became its greatest ambassador. On the road to Damascus, he was knocked off his horse in the middle of the day and Jesus said, ”Why are you persecuting me?” He said, ”Who are You, Lord?” He said, ”I am Jesus.” A heart transplant took place at that moment on that road and that man became one of Christianity’s greatest ambassadors.

Today, open your heart, let the Lord take out that heart of stone and put in a brand new heart of flesh.
Jesus bless you and goodbye.