A New Heart, A Changed Life
“I will give you a new heart…I will remove from you
your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.”
Ezekiel 36:26 (NIV)
July 18th is always a very special day in the Evans family. Bruce and I began our marriage on July 18, 1975 at Hunter Street Baptist Church. This Sunday marks our 46th wedding anniversary. I am more grateful than ever for God’s good gifts of marriage, Bruce, our children, and grandchildren. Our 46 years together are truly a testimony to God’s faithfulness. But July 18th also represents a very different anniversary.
Ten years ago, Bruce and I had a dear college friend and former Auburn football teammate of Bruce’s who received a much-needed heart transplant. Prior to his heart transplant surgery, Danny was tired, pale, and short of breath. Once active and healthy, his quality of life had decreased greatly with his increased heart failure. Danny’s heart was failing fast and without a heart transplant, there was little that could be done. Danny was out of options and it was just a matter of time without a miracle.
I still remember where I was when his wife’s phone call came. Bruce and I were on vacation at the beach and I was working in the beach house kitchen. My cell phone rang and Debbie said, “We just got a call from the hospital and a new heart is available. We’ve only got a couple of hours to get there, but we still don’t know if Danny will be the one to receive this new heart. Please pray!”
Bruce and I quickly prayed both for the heart and their travel from Destin to Birmingham.
Two days after his heart transplant surgery, I visited the UAB Hospital HTIC (Heart Transplant Intensive Care Unit) and saw Danny. The” before and after” difference was undeniable. Danny was sitting up in a chair; his color was good; his eyes were clear, and he had a broad smile on his face. He looked so much better than the last time Bruce and I had seen him. He was transformed from death to life.
"You look great!" I said.
"I feel great," he responded. "In fact, I feel like a 15-year old who could play football again."
Danny’s 9th heart transplant anniversary celebration with his son and grandson
I laughed and we chatted about his whole heart transplant process. How the "We've got a heart for you" call came; how quickly he and his wife needed to be at the hospital; what it felt like to see his new heart beating on a monitor for the first time after his surgery. And with that last reflection, Danny’s eyes filled as he said, "You know...Somebody had to die so that I can live."
Silence fell briefly as we both processed the reality involved for any heart transplant: somebody has to die so that another can live.
Celebrating Danny’s hole-in one!
But my friend's transplant reality is really nothing new. All of us who know Christ as our Savior have experienced the "someone had to die so that I can live" truth. Paul, writing to the Christians in Rome some 25 years after Jesus' death on the cross, penned these words, "But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8) The Apostle Paul realized that Jesus' substitutionary death on the cross was necessary for the fulfillment of the prophet Ezekiel's words regarding God's promise: "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh." (Ezekiel 36:26 NIV)
That's the reality of the Gospel. Christ died for us so that we can live for Him. Jesus' death on a cross makes a new heart and new spirit possible for all who by faith believe in Him. Now, as I remember and celebrate Danny’s heart transplant, I am thankful for my own. I am also challenged to pray for the countless others- family members, friends, millennial and Gen Z "nones," those living in the 10/40 window- who also need a spiritual heart transplant and the new life that comes with it.
"While we were yet sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8)
A new heart; a changed life; and faithful marriages — all good reasons to celebrate!
Happy Anniversary!