29 Dec, 2009
The History of Transplants
It is absolutely amazing to think that doctors through the years have discovered ways to take different parts of one human body and make them useful in another human body. Even more amazing is to think that the first transplant took place clear back in 1905...yes, you read that right...1905! And just look at what has happened since!
1905 - Corneal transplant...patient had his sight the rest of his life!
1910 - The four blood types are discovered allowing for successful blood transfusions.
1954 - Kidney transplant...patient lived a normal life.
1967 - Heart transplant...patient lived only 18 days.
1981 - Heart-lung transplant...first successful transplant of its kind.
1998 - Hand transplant...patient had it removed again 3 years later due to complications.
2005 - Partial face transplant!
(To see the full story from 12/24/09, go to http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/12/24/history.transplant.timeline/index.html.)
Ezekiel 36:23b-28
Then the nations will know that I am the LORD, declares the Sovereign LORD, when I show myself holy through you before their eyes.
" 'For I will take you out of the nations; I will gather you from all the countries and bring you back into your own land. I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean; I will cleanse you from all your impurities and from all your idols. 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. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God.
There's a transplant in God's Story!?!
That's right...God tells His people in Ezekiel 36 that He wants to do some surgery...a heart transplant to be specific. The Israelites, at this point in history have been spread out into many different nations. They were seeking after other gods from other nations. They had developed a heart of stone towards the one true God.
Rather than disown them and reject them, God gathers His children and does the world's first transplant...removing their hearts of stone and replacing them with hearts of flesh. He put His Spirit in them so that they could follow Him fully...with everything they had...so that they could be His people and He could be their God.
What do transplants have to do with me?
Which category do you fall in right now...a heart of stone or one of flesh? Maybe you have fallen into a place where there are other "gods" that have taken first place in your life. Or maybe you are passionately following God with all of your being.
- If you are cold towards God right now, come before Him and be honest about that. Ask Him to do that heart transplant that He has offered. His desire is to put His Spirit in you and give you a new heart that seeks after Him fully!
- If you are already enjoying that new heart of flesh, take some time today to thank Him for the surgery that He has already done! Imagine how different life would be without Him...and then praise Him for this exciting life that He has given you!
What do transplants have to do with my friends?
Maybe you have friends who are living life with a heart of stone. They are cold towards God and lost in life. Read verse 23 from today's passage again. Notice how God says He will show Himself to others...through you! Wow...to think that God has decided to use us to show His glory to the rest of the world is just amazing.
Now, don't take that as a lot of pressure. The truth is, we can do nothing on our own. The only work God will do through us will come as we are closely connected to Him. All we have to do is keep our hearts of flesh soft towards Him and daily abide with Him...He will do the rest.
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