Dring ... dring, went the telephone. My wife, sitting on her leather chair, answered it. A voice on the other end said, “I would like to inform you that the family of the child that donated the heart for your child’s transplant has taken steps to contact you. [At this point my wife switched to speakerphone so we could all hear.] They have sent us a letter addressed to you. I want you to understand that the choice is entirely yours if you want to read it or not. You can come into the hospital and read it with one of our counselors, or we can send it by mail to your home, or we can inform the donor family you would like to refrain from communication with them at this time. The choice is yours.”
My wife and I both gulped for air. Our 15-year-old son, whose heart had been failing, had received a heart transplant three months ago. The heart had been a genuine “gift of life” for him. We were not told anything about the donor except that the heart would be a very good fit for our son.
In a vague sense we understood that another child died to make this heart possible. But we didn’t overthink it. We were just thankful it became available.
Within hours the heart had been flown in a private jet, attended by a team of transplant specialists, into the city where we live. A few minutes before midnight, the surgeons began working on our son. The operation took ten hours to finish. (I don’t know how many doctors and nurses were involved.) When it was done, he was placed in intensive care where two nurses attended him constantly, and doctors visited him by the hour.
The transplant was successful. A week later our boy was walking up and down the hospital hallway, and he even climbed a flight of stairs. A healthy color returned to his face, healthier than it ever looked before. In six weeks, he was able to leave the hospital. “In six months,” the transplant doctor told our son, “we are pretty sure you will even be able to play sports.”
How Could We Ever Say Thank You?
How could we ever thank the family that made this possible? What words could we find to express our appreciation?
We told the counselor on the phone to forward us the letter in the mail. We are waiting for it now.
We will be forever grateful to this family who, in a time of unimaginable grief and loss, gave our son “the gift of life.” How will we ever be able to thank them? I don’t know.
There is something else that no member of the human race can ever show sufficient gratitude for. It is the “gift of life” that is offered from God the Father through the Lord Jesus Christ. For us to be able to receive this gift, the Lord Jesus had to give His life at Calvary. “Christ died for our sins according to the scriptures” (1 Corinthians 15:3).
Because He suffered, bled and died, those who had gone far from God into the paths of sin and shame can receive the gift of eternal life through no merit of their own, but simply because Christ died for them. “The wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord” (Romans 6:2323For the wages of sin is death; but the gift of God is eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord. (Romans 6:23)). And what a gift it is!
He gives us the gift of life, not via a heart transplant, but by making these hearts of ours which were dead in sins and trespasses alive through His grace. “Even when we were dead in sins, hath [made us alive] together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved)” (Ephesians 2:55Even when we were dead in sins, hath quickened us together with Christ, (by grace ye are saved;) (Ephesians 2:5)).
When we received the notice that a heart had been found which would be suitable for our son, we were asked, “Do you want to go ahead with the transplant?”
We answered, “Yes.”
Just Say Yes
Sinners, too, need to answer, “Yes,” to the Lord Jesus Christ. They have to make the conscious decision to place their faith in Him and the great work He did on the cross. Unless they ask God to forgive them, all the love that God has shown them in sending His Son will be lost love as far as they are concerned. They will never receive the gift of life unless they believe.
The gift of life is freely offered by God the Father through the Lord Jesus to every member of the human race. Those who receive it will be welcomed home to heaven. With their own eyes, they will look upon the Lord Jesus who died for them and rose again. Can you imagine what that will be like? Can you imagine the gratitude that will well up in their hearts for the One who died so they could have eternal life? Maybe it will take all eternity to express the love and appreciation we feel towards Him? Maybe that’s why eternity is forever?
Will you say, “Yes,” to the gospel message that the gift of life which comes through the Lord Jesus may be yours? “Whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:1515That whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life. (John 3:15)). What a gift of life God made available to the whole world when He gave His Son!
Find out more about the vital issues of the heart in Heart Monitor.