Heart of a Saint

Here are some words of encouragement from Romans 6:
4 We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, we too may live a new life. 5 If we have been united with him like this in his death, we will certainly also be united with him in his resurrection.

We have been UNITED with Christ - He has made us new creations in Him...He has given us a new heart that is sensitive to His Holy Spirit, and as we live in that newness of life, He changes our desires so that we will want to be more like Him.

Ezekiel 36 says:  26 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. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.

Have you heard?  There has been a theft, from the The 900-year-old heart of 12th century Irish saint Laurence O'Toole has been stolen from the Christ Church Cathedral in Dublin, Ireland.  A local church official is pleading for the its return — "no questions asked."   Apparently, the Irish saint's heart had been on display in the cathedral since the 13th century.   It was kept in a heart-shaped wooden box and locked inside a small, square iron cage, mounted on the wall of a chapel dedicated to his memory.   Two of those bars had been cut through and the cage opened in order to steal the relic. 

Well, I began to think about the phrase, the "heart of a saint".   When the Scriptures refer to the "heart", it's not the physical heart, but the spiritual heart - our spirit - the core of our being, possessing our true identity.   And it's true, we have been given a new spirit that will exist forever:  either alive with God in heaven or experiencing spiritual death apart from Him.   And, it's our decision to allow Jesus to come in and regenerate our hearts that will determine our eternal destiny.   St. O'Toole's physical heart might have been on display in Dublin, but that is merely a representation or reminder of who he really was, and is, because his spirit is in a different place.

And, when Christ comes into our hearts, He makes us new creatures, He gives us a new identity, we are proclaimed to be dead to sin and alive to Him.   And, He has declared each of us to be saints, because we belong to Him and we can come freely before the throne of grace because of the blood of Jesus.   God has declared each of us to be righteous and holy, "not guilty" of our sins, and free to live a life honoring Him.   So, as we recognize that we have the "heart of a saint", a new heart, activated by the Spirit of God, it can  determine our outward behavior, as we allow the Christ in our hearts to live through us.