Day 40: Jesus is the Supreme Heart Surgeon

He heals the brokenhearted and bandages their wounds. PSALM 147:3

I’VE EXPERIENCED A FEW minor but ongoing physical consequences since the week I was hospitalized with COVID in 2021, so my doctor recently suggested that I get a full cardiovascular workup to ensure there was no heart damage. The bad news is I was forced to wear paper gowns that had been manufactured based on a supermodel’s proportions. The good news is that my ticker is totally fine! But while I was lying in a metal tube with sensors glued to my chest listening to that vital organ somewhere under my sternum thump steadily, I got to thinking about how many times the heart is the highlight of a Bible passage or story.

So I looked it up when I got home and discovered that the word heart is liberally scattered throughout Scripture almost one thousand times, which is more often than I say “y’all” even on a verbose day! In the original Old Testament scrolls, the Hebrew word for heart is léb, which refers to one’s inner self and disposition, and in the original Greek text of the New Testament, the word for heart is kardia, from which we get English words like cardiologist.33 Although the context of the word heart in biblical language is usually more spiritual and emotional than physiological—for example, when King David confesses his sin and begs God to give him a clean heart after he gets busted for having an affair with Bathsheba (Ps. 51:10).

Obviously, we won’t peruse every verse in which the heart is mentioned in Holy Writ but here’s a few I found interesting:

“So give your servant a receptive heart to judge your people and to discern between good and evil. For who is able to judge this great people of yours?” (1 Kings 3:9, emphasis mine)

Which reveals that our hearts can be receptive;

For the High and Exalted One, who lives forever, whose name is holy, says this: “I live in a high and holy place, and with the oppressed and lowly of spirit, to revive the spirit of the lowly and revive the heart of the oppressed.” (Isa. 57:15, emphasis mine)

Which reveals that our hearts can be revived;

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will remove your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” (Ezek. 36:26, emphasis mine)

Which reveals that our hearts can be hard or soft;

A joyful heart is good medicine, but a broken spirit dries up the bones. (Prov. 17:22, emphasis mine)

Which reveals that our hearts can be joyful;

He will not fear bad news; his heart is confident, trusting in the Lord. (Ps. 112:7, emphasis mine)

Which reveals that our hearts can be confident;

During the month of Nisan in the twentieth year of King Artaxerxes, when wine was set before him, I took the wine and gave it to the king. I had never been sad in his presence, so the king said to me, “Why do you look so sad, when you aren’t sick? This is nothing but sadness of heart.” (Neh. 2:1–2, emphasis mine)

Which reveals that our hearts can be sad;

But some of the scribes were sitting there, questioning in their hearts: “Why does he speak like this? He’s blaspheming! Who can forgive sins but God alone?” (Mark 2:6–7, emphasis mine)

Which reveals that our hearts can be skeptical; and,

But Mary was treasuring up all these things in her heart and meditating on them. (Luke 2:19, emphasis mine)

Which reveals that our hearts can be reflective—and even repositories for truth.

In light of the myriad of emotions that can flow through these four-chambered miracles in our chests and the fact that our Savior is the supreme heart surgeon (and the one whose heart our hearts are becoming more like as we grow in our faith), I thought it could be helpful to spend the rest of this devotion doing a sort of spiritual EKG, especially since we don’t have to don paper gowns to do so!

1. When I think about how much Jesus loves me, I . . .
2. Being “completely safe” with Jesus would mean I . . .
3. In my relationship with Jesus, I wish I could . . .
4. When I’m moving toward Jesus, I . . .
5. Hearing His voice is sometimes hard for me because . . .
6. Becoming more intimate in my relationship with Jesus would mean I . . .
7. Reflecting on how much time I spend alone with Jesus, I feel . . .
8. I think the main thing that hinders my relationship with Jesus is . . .
9. What I long to consistently experience with Jesus is . . .
10. The last time I felt held by Jesus I . . .