His Initials on Our Heart!

Yesterday my wife had to undergo knee surgery. The orthopedic surgeon (the same one who performed her back fusion 20 years ago) performed a meniscectomy. This is a procedure in which all or a portion of an individual's meniscus is removed (the meniscus is the shock absorber of the knee joint ... in Sharon's case only the portion of her meniscus that was torn was removed). In the words of the surgeon in my post-op meeting with him, my wife should be feeling real good once she recovers. That's good news because of late ... if she was active at all ... her walk was more like a hobble!

Prior to her meniscectomy, the surgeon came in to discuss the surgery. After answering our questions, he asked Sharon this question, "Now which knee is the knee destined for surgery?"  She indicated that it was her right knee. The surgeon then took a purple marker and in large letters wrote his initials on her right knee. We found comfort in that. Just as he didn't want to go to work on the wrong knee - neither did we!

Now what struck me in that is that the doctor could have simply put a big X on my wife's knee (or a happy face or a "Go Steelers!") ... but instead he chose to write his initials. I am not sure why he did so. Perhaps he was marking the knee as his territory ... that the repair that was to be done was going to be his handiwork. 

If that is the case ... I see it as a wonderful picture of what Jesus Christ does with us. All of us are in desperate need of divine surgery .... in fact, surgery is probably not the best word to us to describe our need. Rather we are in need of a supernatural miracle. Our condition is not merely that of being sick or injured. The Scripture clearly tells us that we are spiritually DEAD (read Ephesians 2:1-10). When God, the Divine Surgeon gets a hold of us ... he performs a heart transplant. He replaces our dead and decaying heart with a new heart (Ezekiel 36:26). A heart that is spiritually alive and inclined toward him. And then Jesus Christ writes his initials on our new hearts ... indicating that we belong to HIM and that this new life we now enjoy is due to HIS handiwork!

If you have experienced the handiwork of the Great Physician in his work of giving you a new heart ... take a moment before you move on with your day and praise God for the love and grace and mercy that he has showered upon you in Christ! But if you have not, click on this link and spend a few minutes reading about how you can experience the life-giving work of Jesus! (http://www.matthiasmedia.com.au/2wtl/)

Thanks for stopping by . . .

pj