A Matter Of The Heart

A Matter of the Heart

Prov 23:7, Mark 7:19-23 KJV

Victor Sterling, a very rich contractor, was shaken by the doctor’s diagnosis. The physician said that unless Victor had a heart transplant, he had only weeks, perhaps days, to live. Fortunately, advised the doctor, there were several hearts available, although each was quite expensive.

"How much?" Victor asked.

"Well, I’ve got one heart of an individual who was thirty-five years old," said the surgeon. "He exercised moderately and never ate fatty foods. It’s in pretty good shape and goes for only one hundred thousand dollars."

"What else do you have?" Victor asked, "Anything better?"

"There is the heart of a twenty-year-old Olympic decathlon winner. He never smoked or drank. He was in perfect physical condition. That one will cost $250,000."

"Look Doc, this is my life," said the patient. "What’s the best you got?"

"Well there is one heart, very rare but the very best. It belonged to a sixty-five-year-old man. He drank and smoked to excess, he was thirty pounds overweight and he never exercised. His cholesterol count was over three hundred. This heart goes for one million dollars."

"Why is it so expensive?" asked the patient.

"It’s the heart of an attorney," explained the surgeon. "It’s never been used."

The importance if a pure heart.

THE outward life of Christ was true to His inward character, but, alas, how many of us claim the Name of Christ while we are destitute of His Spirit. Like the peacock, which is famed for its beauty and gluttony, there be many that have an attractive appearance, but at the same time an insatiable desire for self-gratification . Self-complacent boasting is just about as equally unpleasant as the horrid scream of the peacock.

John Wooden former UCLA basketball coach,

Be more concerned with your character than with your reputation, because your character is what you really are, while your reputation is merely what others think you are.

Solomon said: "As [a man] thinketh in his heart, so is he." (Pro 23:7)

The "heart" is the conscious self, the inner core of the individual.

Every dimension of the human personality has been infected by sin. But only the willfully hardened or distant heart is beyond the power of Christ to change.

The heart is the sum total of the personality, the essence of the individual

The need for A new heart

A certain prisoner, most cunning and brutal, was singularly repulsive even in comparison with other prisoners. He had been known for his daring and for the utter absence of all feeling when committing acts of violence. The chaplain had spoken to him several times but had not succeeded even in getting an answer. The man was sullenly set against all instruction. At last he expressed a desire for a certain book, but as it was not in the library the chaplain pointed to the Bible which was placed in his cell, saying, "Did you ever read that Book?" He gave no answer but looked at the good man as if he would kill him. The question was kindly repeated, with the assurance that he would find it well worth reading. "Mister," said the convict, "you would not ask me such a question if you knew who I am. What have I to do with a book of that sort?" The chaplain answered, "I know all about you and that’s why I think the Bible is the book for you." "It would do me no good," he cried. "I am past all feeling." Doubling up his fist, he struck the iron door of the cell and said, "My heart is as hard as that iron; there is nothing in any book that will ever touch me."

"Well," said the chaplain, "you want a new heart. Did you ever read the covenant of grace?" To which the man answered sullenly by inquiring what he meant by such talk. His friend replied, "Listen to these words: ’A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you’ " (Ezek. 36:26). The words struck the man with amazement. He asked to have the passage found for him in the Bible. He read the words again and again; and when the chaplain came back to him the next day, the wild beast was tamed. "Oh, sir," he said, "I never dreamed of such a promise! I never believed it possible that God would speak in such a way to men. If He gives me a new heart, it will be a miracle of mercy; and yet I think He is going to work that miracle upon me, for the very hope of a new nature is beginning to touch me as I never was touched before."

Types of hearts

1. Evil heart