The World's First Heart Transplant...Or Was It?

by SisterAngie

The world’s first heart transplant was performed by a doctor named Christiaan Barnard of South Africa. Interestingly enough, Barnard grew up in a home of meager resources. His dad was a minister in the Dutch Reformed Church. After having a brother die from heart problems at the age of five, he was determined to become South Africa’s leading cardiac surgeons.
He eventually performed South Africa’s first kidney transplant and later experimented with heart transplants in animals. Over fifty dogs received new hearts!

Finally, on December 3, 1967, the world’s first successful heart transplant was performed for a man who had incurable heart disease. Can you imagine being in the position of that first person to undergo such a surgery? Barnard was quoted as saying, "For a dying man it is not a difficult decision because he knows he is at the end. If a lion chases you to the bank of a river filled with crocodiles, you will leap into the water, convinced you have a chance to swim to the other side."

When I first heard of this special date in history, I could not help but think about our amazing God, the master heart surgeon. In Ezekiel, He promises, “A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." He sure did that for me!

Before I knew Jesus, I had no problem telling lies and had many idols in my life. My heart was hard indeed. I desperately needed a new one. Praise God, I did not have to wait in a long list of potential recipients and qualify through rigorous guidelines and criteria, not to mention the over $200,000 cost for such a major surgery!

The sword of the Spirit, God’s word, was the perfectly sterilized implement that was used in my supernatural heart transplant. One night I laid my husband’s Bible on my lap and asked God that if Jesus was real, to show himself to me. As my eyes fell on Isaiah 41:10, Fear thou not; for I am with thee: be not dismayed; for I am thy God: I will strengthen thee; yea, I will help thee; yea, I will uphold thee with the right hand of my righteousness. These were the words of hope I had been looking for all of my life. I realized God was not far away, but close and personal, an answer to all the fears I felt in living so many years on my own without Him.

As with any recipient of a new physical heart, I had a fresh lease on life filled with hope, joy, and a promise that when my actual heart sounds its last beat, I will live beyond this natural life! Until then, we must endeavor to “Keep thy heart with all diligence…” both spiritually and