In need of a heart transplant

Sometime we just need a little reality check, don't we? It is as though we need to hear we aren't doing things all that well, or that we don't have our act all together - and then we come to some revelation we need to change the things we are doing, or how we are responding to life's circumstances. If you don't want to know the truth, then don't ask, but you won't get very far in this lifetime if all you expect to live 'within' is the confines of some made up reality! There are just times when something 'new' needs to be added - because the 'old' hasn't been working out too well for any of us!

But in our time something new has been added. What Moses and the prophets witnessed to all those years has happened. The God-setting-things-right that we read about has become Jesus-setting-things-right for us. And not only for us, but for everyone who believes in him. For there is no difference between us and them in this. Since we’ve compiled this long and sorry record as sinners (both us and them) and proved that we are utterly incapable of living the glorious lives God wills for us, God did it for us. Out of sheer generosity he put us in right standing with himself. A pure gift. He got us out of the mess we’re in and restored us to where he always wanted us to be. And he did it by means of Jesus Christ. (Romans 3:23-24 MSG)

There is no monopoly on needing God's help to set things right in our lives. It isn't a "Christian" thing to need Jesus' help to get things right - it is a worldwide thing, regardless of any particular 'belief system', all have sinned - all have fallen short of God's plan. All need the one, true God. All need an understanding of just how fall we have fallen and that there is no way to set things right no matter what we 'try'. All need to be 'set right' from time to time - some of us more than others! I am one of those who needs a little 'setting right' a little more frequently than some others, but I am not afraid to admit it. It is in the admitting of my need that I find what it is I most need - to be set free from my 'making things right' so that Jesus can go about truly 'making things right'!

The cold, hard truth is clear - you and I are incapable of living as we should. We might make a valiant attempt at being 'pretty good' people, but even all that valiant effort on our part doesn't do what God's grace can and does do within our lives. Nothing we 'do' restores us to a sinless state - it might mask the 'badness' of our nature, but all those 'things we do' don't change our nature! The only one capable of changing our nature is the one who created all of us in the first place. Sin has no end until Jesus brings it to an end in our lives, by empowering us to live beyond the pull of sin's influence.

Scripture is clear - there really is no difference between us. Our 'need' is all the same - it may just come in different packages! While my 'package' gets unpacked a little differently than yours, we are still a bundle of messiness! We live messy lives when we try to live them apart from Christ. Why is that? Simply put, we need his guidance to get things right. Our best attempt at 'goodness' is to show a little kindness from time to time, but to be truly 'good at heart', we need new hearts! Our hearts have been hardened by sin and there is no softening of it once that occurs. There must be an exchange of heart - his for ours! Just sayin!