A New Heart For An Old One
James released the clamps from the blood vessels and watched with intense interest as the blood began to flow again. The
pulsing heart demonstrated the natural life force of the living tissues, and he began to relax from the tension of performing another heart transplant. Leaving his assistant to close the gaping chest, he stood back and reviewed briefly the facts of the case - an attempt to save another person from the sure results of the broken laws of life.
The patient was a colleague who had been a physician of the older school who had considered that his habits of life were his own business and, even though the statistically proven facts showed that his way of life was a health hazard, he had continued to smoke and drink in what he considered a normal fashion. While he knew that both smoking and drinking contributed to both heart and lung problems, he felt that as he was a physician he could cope with any problem that might arise. Until . . . until that dreadful day when he himself had been diagnosed as having coronary heart disease after suffering a really bad bout of chest pain. Yes, he had stopped both his smoking and drinking, but the damage had been done and now he lay on the operating table as the stitches were placed to close his gaping chest and cover the pulsing heart that offered a promise of a slightly longer life.
How often, James thought, had he warned both men and women of the almost sure results of following these socially acceptable types of drug addiction. While the body has many ways of protecting itself from abuse so that it can continue to function, it cannot overcome the continual abuse often given to it in the name of relaxation and pleasure. Many a man treats his car better than he treats his body.
In recent years, most heart problems have tended to be coronary heart disease. The artery that supplies the blood necessary for the function of the heart muscle itself, the coronary artery, can become reduced in size by the build-up of certain fats and waste products in the blood in a given area. If this occurs in one of the branches of the coronary artery, then there will be pain in the chest as a result of the loss of oxygen in that part of the heart tissue that is supplied by that branch of the coronary artery. This pain is usually referred to as angina pectoris. It may arise if there is extra activity or exertion as climbing the stairs, walking up a hill, immediately after a large meal or even under stress. Together with the pain there may be shortness of breath, forceful beating of the heart and mild perspiration. These symptoms are real danger signals which call for immediate action.
If the small section of the artery is blocked off, the tissue that is supplied by that branch of the artery will die. Depending on the size of the area of tissue affected, there may be little or no symptoms, or the strong symptoms of angina pectoris. If the area is very small, the heart will continue to function, but after about one month the dead area of heart muscle will form a scar. The doctor will refer to this as a myocardial infarct.
However, if one of the major sections of the coronary artery is blocked, the result will be termed a massive coronary occlusion, usually referred to as a heart attack which may well end in death.
But why?
There are six basic known causes of what has become known as heart attack.
It has been suggested that it would be wonderful if we could choose our parents! The tendency toward coronary heart disease is in part inherited. It has been demonstrated that coronary artery problems can be about four times more frequent among the brothers and sisters of those with coronary heart disease than among the siblings of those without such heart disease. Body build tends to be inherited. It is recognized that the broad-shouldered, muscular type of male with physical and psychological drive is frequently a host for heart attack - the so-called “Type A.” This type of person tends to be excessive in his habits, works too hard, plays too hard, eats too much and uses both tobacco and alcohol. Much of this is learned from family habits in the younger years. Some of these can lead to:
Obesity is usually taken to mean an increase of between 10 to 20 percent of weight above the weight at about 20 years of age. While statistics can sometimes appear to disagree, it is recognized that people who are continually overweight have a greater chance of heart problems than those of more moderate body mass.
More commonly known as high blood pressure, it is defined as being higher than approximately 150 millimeters of mercury at the systole or contraction of the heart and 90 millimeters of mercury at the diastole when the heart is at rest between beats. Most authorities agree that a person with a consistently higher systolic reading of 160 or more is four times at greater risk than one with a reading of 120 or less. The difference between the systolic and the diastolic readings is referred to as the pulse pressure, with the higher pulse pressure reflecting the harder work the heart must do to pump the blood around the body. This makes the heart overwork and, if the condition persists, the heart muscle tends to weaken.
The use of tobacco causes the lungs to reduce their capability of exchanging oxygen and carbon dioxide with the consequent lowering of the oxygen levels in the blood. Nicotine adds further to the problem by causing the smaller arteries to constrict or narrow thus causing the blood pressure to rise, putting more load on the heart muscle.
It has long been known that muscular activity assists the function of the heart. The alternate tension and relaxation of the muscles of the body, especially those of the arms and legs, assist the flow of blood in the veins back to the heart. While the contractions of the heart muscle create a pumping action by sending blood to the extremities of the body, this pulse is lost in the maze of small blood vessels known as capillaries. To assist the flow of blood back to the heart the veins have small valves which ensure the movement of the blood in one direction only. When the muscles contract the blood is squeezed out of the veins, and when the muscles relax, blood flows back again from the capillaries. This “one-way-traffic” makes the work of the heart easier. Those who do little physical work are thus at a disadvantage as their heart must work harder to accomplish the same amount of work.
While it is only in fairly recent years that much of this has been known, the benefit of physical activity was recorded almost a century ago. A prominent health writer at the turn of the century wrote; “Inactivity is a fruitful cause of disease. Exercise quickens and equalizes the circulation of the blood, but in idleness the blood does not circulate freely, and the changes in it, so necessary to life and health, do not take place. The skin, too, becomes inactive. Impurities are not expelled as they would be if the circulation had been quickened by vigorous exercise, the skin kept in a healthy condition, and the lungs fed with plenty of pure, fresh air. . . .
“Outdoor exercise is the best; it should be so planned as to strengthen by use the organs that have become weakened.”1
It has been noted for some time that people who rush about and place themselves in stressful situations have a greater tendency to heart problems. Excessive worry, little rest, continually driving oneself, taking little time for relaxation; these will tend to hasten the development of a “heart attack.”
If you want to have a heart attack, do the following:
1. Come from a family with a history of heart problems. This has a suggested risk-factor of 1.7 to 1.
2. Smoke a pack of cigarettes or more a day. Risk factor 3 to 1.
3. Eat enough to be consistently overweight. Risk factor 2 to 1.
4. Have little exercise. Risk factor 2 to 1.
5. Eat a rich, high fat diet. Risk factor 2 to 1.
6. Worry, have little sleep, drive yourself, take little time for relaxation. Risk factor very high.
If your lifestyle includes all these factors you could have as much as 10 to 30% risk of having a heart attack - but by reducing all these factors, by changing one’s lifestyle, it is possible to reduce the risk to a negligible amount. While the surgeon can now perform amazing things, it is far better to live in such a way that such medical intervention is unnecessary. Prevention is still better than cure.
There is, however, another form of “heart disease” that requires a very different form of treatment. This disease is congenital, infectious, and terminal; that is, we are born with it, we are affected very much by others with this disease, and it causes our death. This disease is called sin!
The heart or core of a human being was once thought to be the heart. Under stress (good or bad) the heart may beat faster; while emotions may cause a sense of tightening in the chest. This led the ancients to understand that the organ we call the heart was the center of our being. Now, of course, we understand that the heart is only an organ of muscle, that, under nerve stimulation, pumps the blood around the body. The real core or heart of men and women is their mind. This concept is found in the Bible where it states: “That the wickedness of man was great in the earth, and that every imagination of the thoughts of his heart was only evil continually” (Genesis 6:5). Because of this condition of humanity, God destroyed the earth by a flood, saving only one family because they believed His word.
The descendants of this one family unfortunately also lived without the counsel of God, and each subsequent generation departed further and further from His plans and His desires for them until in the time of the prophet Jeremiah it was recognised that: “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately corrupt; who can understand it? ‘I the Lord search the mind and try the heart, to give to every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his doings’ ” (Jeremiah 17:9, 10, RSV).
We, too, have departed from God’s direction and we are also partakers of this same heart disease. “For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God” (Romans 3:23). We have inherited this disease of the heart from our parents, and we cannot cure the disease by ourselves. We have no medicine and cannot take any treatment of humans that will overcome the problem with our heart. Our situation is dangerous, and we know that we must die, for “the wages of sin is death” (Romans 6:23).
David, that great king of Israel, had a major heart problem. As the leader of the nation, he had a responsibility to set before the people the highest fidelity to God who had given him his throne, but he demonstrated both adultery and murder, two horrible crimes that he would have punished if found in any subject of his kingdom. Under the correction of the prophet Nathan, David recognized his disease and humbled himself before God. “Have mercy upon me, O God, according to thy loving-kindness: according unto the multitude of thy tender mercies blot out my transgression. Wash me throughly from mine iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin. For I acknowledge my transgressions: and my sin is ever before me. . . . Behold, I was shapen in iniquity; and in sin did my mother conceive me” (Psalm 51:1-5).
David knew the source of his “heart” disease and pleaded with God, “Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). He also knew that he could not do a “heart transplant” on himself. He needed help from the Creator to perform this “surgery.” He must submit himself to another, wiser than he, to perform this operation. Like David, we do not know how to perform this necessary change. We have no knowledge, no skill, no power, no expertise that is sufficient for this problem. “Who can bring a clean thing out of an unclean? not one” (Job 14:4). We may try - we may try very hard, but all our best efforts are insufficient to meet this deathly need. We must go to the Physician.
“Is there no balm in Gilead; is there no physician there?” (Jeremiah 8:22).
Fortunately, there is a Doctor who specializes in transplants. His name is, “Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace” (Isaiah 9:6). He knows the disease, He knows the diagnosis, He knows the treatment, and He is the only one who can apply it. He is the only specialist in the world who can change hearts that are deformed by the disease of sin and His treatment is correct and complete.
Christ alone is the only One who can change the heart of men and women. He says: “Then will I sprinkle clean water upon you, and ye shall be clean: from all your filthiness, and from all your idols, will I cleanse you. 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 a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgements, and do them” (Ezekiel 36:25-27).
The stony heart is a heart that has been hardened by continual disobedience. The Spirit of God is constantly working to cause us to be obedient to the Word of God. He prompts us through our conscience - our heart - and this is the voice of God heard amid the conflict of human emotions.2 When we continually push aside these promptings of the Holy Spirit and continue in our own way, satisfying our own desires, we do despite to the Spirit of God (Ephesians 4:30; Hebrews 10:29).
When we listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit speaking to us through an enlightened conscience and follow that prompting, we become more closely in tune with the voice of God, and we begin to have a softer heart that can be impressed with the requirements of a loving God expressed through His law. “Temptation once resisted will give power to more firmly resist the second time; every new victory gained over self will smooth the way for higher and nobler triumphs. Every victory is a seed sown to eternal life.”3
“When Jesus speaks of the new heart, He means the mind, the life, the whole being. To have a change of heart is to withdraw the affections from the world, and fasten them upon Christ. To have a new heart is to have a new mind, new purposes, new motives. What is the sign of a new heart? - a changed life. There is a daily, hourly dying to selfishness and pride.”4
It is important that we learn to listen to the voice of the Holy Spirit, for without this voice there is nothing to prompt us to lay our hardened heart at the foot of the cross and permit the sin-pardoning Redeemer to work His change in our mind and life. Paul speaks of this change when he says: “Be not conformed to this world: but be ye transformed by the renewing of your mind, that ye may prove what is that good, and acceptable, and perfect, will of God” (Romans 12:2).
The prompting of the Holy Spirit to walk in obedience to the Word of God will be a constant blessing to us. When we have stored our heart-mind with the Word of God, we can then expect the fulfillment of the promise of Christ, “And when they bring you unto the synagogues, and unto magistrates, and powers, take ye no thought how or what thing ye shall answer, or what ye shall say: for the Holy Ghost shall teach you in the same hour what ye ought to say” (Luke 12:11, 12).
The voice of the Holy Spirit will be very real to the one who has made a habit of submitting self to the direction of the Spirit of God. It will not be some sort of disembodied voice in the corner of the ceiling, but a very real impression that one should act in a certain way. “Thine ears shall hear a voice behind thee, saying, This is the way, walk ye in it, when ye turn to the right hand, and when ye turn to the left” (Isaiah 30:21).
There are many experiences included in the sacred record of those who were in constant communion with the Spirit of God and who acted upon the instruction given, but this experience does not come without our active involvement even though it is under the guidance and control of Christ the Holy Physician. He alone can give us the power to cleanse our heart from the influences of the world, but we must cooperate with Him in the cleansing process, just as one must consciously submit and cooperate with the medical practitioner when need arises. “It is left with us to remedy the defects in our characters, to cleanse the soul temple of every defilement. Then the latter rain will fall upon us as the early rain fell upon the disciples on the Day of Pentecost.”5
My brother, my sister, my friend, we all have a heart problem. Remember, it is congenital, infectious, and terminal, and there is no way out that we can find ourselves. Will you give your “heart problem” to the wise Physician who has never lost a case? If you have not done so, will you do it right now, this moment? He can help you, He can save you, He can cure you! He says, “My son, give me thine heart” (Proverbs 23:26).