I was six years old. The teacher in Sunday School asked for someone to come up to the chalkboard and show how Jesus gives us a new heart.

I raised my hand. She picked me.

On the chalkboard, the teacher had already drawn a heart full of sin. It was in the classic heart shape we use on Valentine’s Day cards. To represent that it was full of sin, she had drawn a solid heart totally filled in.

I picked up the eraser. I erased everything inside the heart. But I was careful to leave the outline of the heart.

The teacher said something nice, like “That is very good, Timmy.”

Then she made the point that I have remembered all my life:  “But when Jesus gives us a new heart, he gives us a COMPLETELY new heart.”

She took the eraser and erased everything left from the original heart. Then she drew a COMPLETELY new heart!

Theologians and philosophers can debate the nuances of what it means to have Jesus give us a COMPLETELY new heart.

But none of them can give a better explanation than our teacher gave us children with chalk and an eraser.

The Way of Jesus is, indeed, “making all things new.” (Revelation 21:5).

The Way of Jesus is, indeed, making ALL things COMPLETELY new! (Revelation 21:1-7).

READ MORE

I think the teacher was the Department Superintendent, Mrs. Palmer, and that her “chalk talk” was for the entire Primary Department, consisting of about 20 children in First, Second and Third Grade. My mother and father were members of West Side Baptist Church (now called Journey Christian Church) in Greece, New York.

Since I was only in First Grade, it took a great deal of courage for me to walk up in front of all those “big kids”. I remember being upset that I’d gotten the answer wrong.

To learn more about a heart that is full of sin, please read my blog “The Labyrinth of Darkness”.

To learn more about the COMPLETELY new heart that Jesus gives us, please read my blog “The Labyrinth of Light”.

To learn more about how Jesus gives us a COMPLETELY new heart, please read my blogs “Overcoming Oceans of Despair”,  “Overcoming Oceans of Hopeless Confusion”, “Overcoming Oceans of Fears”, “Overcoming Oceans of Doubts,” and “Overcoming Oceans of Failures”, and the chapters “As Mary Cries, Jesus Comes and Calls Her by Name”, “A Healthy Jesus Walks to Emmaus”, “Jesus Tells the Disciples, ‘Peace Be with You!’”, “Jesus Overcomes the Doubts of Doubting Thomas”, and “Jesus Encourages Peter to Take Care of His Sheep” in my book Hoping in the LORD, at pages 309-333.