A Heart Change

Remind them to be submissive to rulers and authorities, to be obedient, to be ready for every good work, to speak evil of no one, to avoid quarreling, to be gentle, and to show perfect courtesy toward all people. For we ourselves were once foolish, disobedient, led astray, slaves to various passions and pleasures, passing our days in malice and envy, hated by others and hating one another. But when the goodness and loving kindness of God our Savior appeared, he saved us, not because of works done by us in righteousness, but according to his own mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewal of the Holy Spirit, whom he poured out on us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by his grace we might become heirs according to the hope of eternal life. (Titus 3:1-7 ESV). It’s amazing what medical science has achieved in our lifetime. When I had a heart ablation done on the right and left Atrial chambers of my heart last year, I was curious about what that would involve. So, of course I went to the internet to do a bit of research. I must confess that while my curiosity was satisfied, my anxiety was increased! It seems that this procedure requires the insertion of a line through an artery to the interior of your heart and the cardiologist then begins to burn a small portion of the heart to create a different pattern of muscle with scar tissue. First, I was not keen on having anything inserted into my heart! And, second, why would I want to purposefully burn it? Well, as you know, the procedure is fairly common and was quite successful. The most interesting part of all of this is how it required fixing the inside of my heart to affect the rest of my body. That brought me to our reading today. In the 1600s, author Matthew Mead published a great book called The Almost Christian Discovered in which wrote, "The outward change is often without the inward, though the inward change is never without the outward." People can go through the motions and not necessarily be Christians. You can pray and not necessarily be a Christian. You can be baptized and not necessarily be a Christian. To the best of your ability you can keep the Ten Commandments and not necessarily be a Christian. You can even believe that Jesus is coming back and not necessarily be a Christian. People may even make visible changes in their lives and not necessarily be Christians. It is not your works that make you saved. You put your faith in Christ, and then you will see the evidence in your life. While it is true that faith without works is dead (see James 2:20), it could be said that works without faith is also dead. You may say, "Well, I went forward at a VBS or "I stood up and prayed a prayer." That is good, but it doesn't necessarily make you a Christian. There has to be a movement of God within your heart toward Him. Have you had such an experience?