It’s Not Heart Surgery

My nephew decided he no longer wants to be a heart surgeon.

“I can’t take the blood” he reflected out loud.

His brother, a precocious 6 year old, easily responded with this “That’s too bad. If you were a heart surgeon you would get to see what God looks like.”

I like the concrete thinking of a 6 year old. Jesus lives in my heart, therefore, he literally resides right there in the left ventricle with a sofa and a bed and a white picket fence and a 2 car attached garage. Or maybe you’re a right ventricle kind of person with a condo in a high rise and plenty of street parking.

Wish it were that simple.

But, wait….it really is that simple. Maybe even simpler.

Jesus promises in John 14:23 that God takes up residence in the heart of the Christian. He repeats that promise in Ephesians 3:17 where Paul reminds us that Christ dwells in our hearts through faith.

Christ lives in the heart of the believer by faith the moment of salvation through the Holy Spirit who takes up residence in the believer’s heart.

I am no longer my own. My body is no longer my own. I have been bought with a price.

You won’t need a heart surgeon to figure that one out. The overflow of your life ought to show clearly enough who lives in that heart of yours. A heart invaded by the Holy Spirit of God produces the fruit of the Spirit: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self control.

It’s like this. The owner of the house will reflect what the house will look like. I can drive down my street in my neighborhood and tell you which owners care and which ones don’t.

Now things may not always look perfectly. I get that. Sometimes a weed will grow in the yard and be untended to. Or a rabbit may show up and eat the plant. But a careful owner will eventually tend to the house and the yard and the evidence will be obvious to anyone looking.

Without bothering with anesthesia or a heart surgeon.

Who is living in your heart, I wonder.

Better yet, can other people tell without putting you under?

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