Heart Surgery: Opening to God, Separating from the World

In our journey of faith, we often find ourselves stumbling forward, making progress in fits and starts. This spiritual trek requires not just minor adjustments, but radical heart surgery - a complete transformation that only God can perform.

The prophet Ezekiel, speaking to exiled Israelites some 600 years before Christ, captures this need perfectly. He cries out, "Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit" (Ezekiel 18:31). It's a powerful call, but one that highlights a fundamental problem: we cannot change our own hearts.

This impossibility is the crux of the Old Testament's message. Time and again, God's people were called to obedience, to righteousness, to a new heart - and time and again, they failed. Why? Because fallen humanity cannot lift itself up by its own bootstraps. We need divine intervention.

Enter the promise of a new covenant. God, through Ezekiel, declares: "I will give them one heart and I will put a new spirit within them and take the stony heart out of their flesh and give them a new heart of flesh" (Ezekiel 36:26). This isn't a call to self-improvement; it's a promise of divine transformation.

This promise finds its fulfillment in Jesus Christ. As the Apostle Paul explains in Romans, "What the law could not do in that it was weak through the flesh, God did by sending His own Son" (Romans 8:3). Jesus lived the perfect life we never could, and then offered that life as a substitute for us.

So what does this mean for us today? It means that true Christianity isn't about trying harder and harder to fix ourselves so God will accept us. That's a false gospel built on old covenant terms with no power. The only gospel that saves is one where we recognize our inability and cast ourselves completely on Jesus as our Savior.

When we do this, we're born again. God's Spirit changes us from the inside out, giving us a heart that is, for the first time, alive to God. This is where true transformation begins.

But this transformation requires ongoing cooperation with God's work in our lives. We're called to three key actions:

1. Open your heart to love: As believers, we need our true brothers and sisters in the faith. We need the community of the church, the preaching of God's word, and the willingness to receive both correction and encouragement. This openness can be challenging, especially if we've been hurt in the past or if we're reluctant to give up cherished sins. But it's essential for our growth.

2. Separate your heart from the world: While we're called to love unbelievers and share our faith with them, we must guard against being "unequally yoked" with the world's way of thinking. Paul uses five different Greek words to emphasize this point, urging believers to separate themselves from the world's lawlessness, darkness, worthlessness, emptiness, and idolatry. We're called to be in the world but not of it, maintaining a distinct difference in our values and priorities.

3. Cleanse your heart in gratitude: This isn't about earning God's favor through our efforts. Instead, it's a response to the incredible promises God has already fulfilled in our lives. He has made us His house, called us His people, and adopted us as His children. In light of these truths, how could we ever go back to our old ways of living?

Our life's work, then, is not to be saved, but flows from the fact that we are saved. We're engaged in "perfecting holiness in the fear of God" - a lifelong process of being transformed into the image of Christ by the work of the Holy Spirit.

This journey isn't always smooth. We stumble, we fail, we sin. But the beauty of God's grace is that He continues His work in us, transforming us "from one degree of glory to another." We're not pursuing holiness to be saved, but because we have been saved.

As we walk this path, we're called to constant discernment. The world's ideas often come close to God's truth, making it crucial that we examine everything in light of God's Word. We must be vigilant in ripping off the "junk" the world tries to staple to us, always pursuing a deeper relationship with the Lord.

In essence, the Christian life is about a heart transplant, not just heart surgery. It's about receiving a completely new heart from God, one that beats in tune with His will and desires. This new heart opens us up to love God and His people more deeply, separates us from the world's harmful influences, and motivates us to pursue holiness out of gratitude for all God has done.

As we reflect on these truths, let's ask ourselves: Are we truly living with this new heart? Are we opening ourselves fully to God's love and the support of His people? Are we maintaining a clear separation from worldly values and pursuits? And are we actively pursuing holiness, not out of obligation, but out of deep gratitude for God's transforming work in our lives?

May we all be encouraged to press on in this journey, stumbling forward perhaps, but always moving onward in God's grace and power. For it is He who began the good work in us, and He who will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.