Change Of Heart

I have recently learned a very interesting fact: The instant a baby is born, his heart works completely differently than before birth. Of course, I knew that a baby breathes differently at birth than he did while in his mother's womb: He gets his oxygen from the umbilical cord while in the womb and once the umbilical cord is severed, he takes his first breaths of air. However, I'd never actually considered that the heart actually changes at the moment of birth. When I began to research this, all kinds of similarities jumped out at me - similarities between the first birth and the Second Birth of humans. There are also many interesting comparisons to be made between a baby in the womb/a baby outside the womb and a newborn babe in Christ before and after taking the first breath of New Life.

Oh my, where to start . . . . the study of these facts about newborn babies literally take my breath away! Without going into all the technical medical facts, suffice it to say that I doubt that the similarities in the first birth and the Second Birth are a mere coincidence. This blog is my very feeble attempt at describing what I found to be both mind-blowing and very touching information about this subject.

The most exciting thing that stands out in my study of a newborn's reaction to the outside world, as mentioned at the beginning of this blog, is the fact that his heart changes drastically at the instant of birth. The blood flow in his tiny heart actually changes directions! Once the umbilical cord is cut, the baby no longer relies on his mother for oxygen - He takes his first gasp and breathes in his first breath of real air! There are so many things that happen to the baby's little body, especially in his heart and lungs, in his first few seconds of life outside of the womb. No longer is he dependent on the umbilical cord for oxygen and nutrients and life itself. He can no longer just float around in amniotic fluid, never getting hungry or thirsty and having to do absolutely nothing to maintain a healthy life. Once that umbilical cord is severed, what does he have to do right off the bat? He has to cry and drink in those first breaths of life outside of the womb. Also, he has to cry and let everyone know that he's hungry or he's wet or he has a tummy ache, etc. He has to put forth some effort now that he hadn't had to do before his mom went into labor. He actually has to work to ensure that he's fed on a regular basis and his needs are met, both physically and emotionally.

Another important fact regarding childbirth is that we all realize that a woman who is in labor and delivers a baby goes through a great deal of agonizing pain, some more than others depending on the circumstances. What a lot of people don't know is that childbirth is every bit as traumatic on the baby as it is on the mom, some more than others, again depending on the circumstances. I'm sure we've all seen a newborn baby whose head is misshapen immediately after birth. This is very common because the 7- or 8- or 9-pound baby had to travel down the birth canal before making his exit. It's also not uncommon for a newborn baby who has been delivered vaginally to have scratches or scrapes on his body from the use of forceps or other devices used to aid in bringing him into the world. There have even been babies born with broken clavicles from trauma during birth. Also, while in the womb, a baby's lungs are filled with a fluid that helps them mature. During labor, the fluid dries up and the baby has to start working to expand it's tiny lungs so he can breathe once he's born. Medical experts liken the process of a baby being gradually pushed through the birth canal to a feeling of being tightly squeezed similar to how your arm feels while your blood pressure is being taken. Can you imagine your entire body being squeezed like that? A baby in the process of being born usually twists and turns during labor to find the easiest way to squeeze through. As you can see, the birthing process is not only exhausting and very uncomfortable for the mother but for the baby as well.

Now let's turn the page and consider what happens when a person is born again. I'll begin, as I did with the baby's reaction to the outside world, with the newly-saved believer's reaction to his New Life. Just as a newborn baby literally has a "change of heart" at the moment of birth, so does a born-again Christian have a Change of Heart. A newborn's heart is changed physically, wherein a person who has just experienced the New Birth has a Change of Heart spiritually, emotionally, and mentally. The newborn baby's heart changes directions physically at birth and the newborn believer's heart changes directions spiritually at the moment of his Second Birth! The second a new believer relinquishes dependence on the world and all it has to offer, he becomes dependent on Jesus Christ for his spiritual and emotional needs - he becomes dependent on the Savior for life itself! He no longer has to depend on his past vices and addictions and passions and "stuff" for contentment and joy. Just as a newborn has to put forth some effort to cry and let his mother know he needs her, whether it be for food or cuddling, a believer in Christ has to work daily to ensure a close relationship to his Savior. We can't be uninvolved in our spiritual health, just sitting back and expecting to stay healthy without putting forth some effort on a daily basis, feeding on His Word and drinking from the River of Life, and crying out to God for His protection and safekeeping. God will not force-feed us. We have to let Him know we want to be fed. He will never disown us, but He also will never force His blessings and comfort on us.

Now to address the trauma that a person goes through before the moment of salvation. Even if a person is saved at a young age, he still has to first feel the sadness and discontentment and shame of conviction and realize that he is a sinner who needs a Savior. That's the point at which a person has reached the age of accountability, when he realizes he is lost and he needs God's forgiveness for his sins. Conviction is a terrible thing to experience. All of us have felt it at some point in our lives or will at some point in the future. Those of us who are saved still experience conviction when we sin. Most of us want to drown that feeling by pushing it to the back of our minds and hearts. We try to replace those overwhelming waves of conviction with something else so we don't have to face up to our shortcomings. That's the natural human reaction to feelings of conviction. We do whatever we have to do to avoid that awful feeling. We don't want to admit we've messed up and we certainly don't want to admit to anyone else that we're depraved sinners, not even to God Himself who knows us better than we know ourselves.

I'm going to address this part of the blog to my personal experience in regards to the trauma felt before I breathed that first breath of New Life. Much like a growing baby in the womb, I'd been spending day after day just floating around and not worrying about my life. I didn't have to waste a second of time worrying about where my next meal was coming from or if I was going to have enough oxygen to survive, etc. I was doing pretty much what I wanted to do. As I began to grow and got older however, I began to feel the pressure of labor on my body - the strong conviction of the Holy Spirit's labor. I'd felt the pressure of labor many times before, but I stubbornly pushed back and refused what was being offered. One day, I felt the pangs so intensely - I was fighting so hard to stay in my usual place, the place I was familiar with and the life I was used to. I was scared, very scared. My heart was racing and I thought it would come out through my chest. I could hear my heart pounding in my head. My body felt compressed and I couldn't breathe. It was at that moment, when I actually couldn't get in a deep breath . . . . I stopped fighting. I relinquished my life and my soul to my Creator. And let me tell you about that first Breath of Life!!!!  I'd never felt so clean and so rejuvenated! It was exhilarating! It was at that moment I truly began to live, outside of the "womb" that was keeping me confined in sin. I was no longer drowning in loneliness and sadness or being choked by the pressure of my failures and sins. I was free from dependence on the world and captured by the joy of dependence on my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ! I admit I still carry some physical scars and old wounds from the trauma of my past life and the long labor I had to endure because of my selfish defiance and stubbornness, but I am a new person. I still sometimes feel like I'm a new baby in Christ because I still mess up and I still have so much to learn, but I have a strong desire to grow and eventually become a mature Christian - the person my God wants me to be.

God changed my heart physically the moment I was born in 1959, but I thank Him for the most important Change of Heart that evening in 1979. I pray that those reading this who don't know what that Change of Heart is like won't be as stubborn and defiant as I was all those years. I thank God every day that He was so patient with me and continued to send the Holy Spirit to convict me until I was so miserable I had nowhere else to turn. Thank God for his convicting power! I know He would not have forced salvation on me. We are, after all, free spirits and not puppets on strings. He gives us a choice, accept Him or deny Him. I have no doubt that would've been my last chance that evening in 1979 to accept Him. He'd given me so many chances before that and I continued time after time to turn my back and refuse to listen to Him. Thank God I had so many awful things to endure that finally convinced me that I was going to die without Him. Sometimes babies in the womb are stubborn too. They refuse to be born and doctors have no choice but to use forceps to deliver a baby via cesarean section. However, God won't do that. He doesn't force anything on us. He's given us the gift of a free will. It's up to us. We can choose to stay in the birth canal because we're just too stubborn and self sufficient and end up being crushed to death by the pressures of sin. Please choose the Breath of Life . . . . and have a real Change of Heart.

Susan Trafford Martin
October 22, 2010