Heart Issues

Today I had occasion to lay quietly while a very noisy machine (MRI) took pictures of my back. For 45 minutes with nothing more to do than try to identify the noises the machine makes (woodpecker working on the house, jack hammer, mirumba badly out of tune) I started making an analogy between Bob's heart issues, and a Christian's heart issues.

Bob had drastic surgery on his heart.
When one becomes a Christian he or she has drastic surgery on a very diseased heart.
Bob was in Intensive Care for several days with nurses and doctors monitoring him 24/7.
The new Christian needs Intensive Care from other Christians as he grows accustomed to the changes.
Bob had clogged arteries which did not permit blood to flow efficiently to all parts of his body. Some new vessels had to be attached to his heart to make it work properly.
The new Christian has clogged arteries from the old life, and through confession must clean those arteries out, and then new ways of thinking, responding to stimuli which once upon a time caused anger, resentment, moodiness, etc. must be learned.
Bob was sent to Cardiac Rehab where he learned to exercise correctly all the time that he was hooked up to monitors.
The new Christian needs to be rehab'd where he learns to think correctly. He needs to be in an environment where he can be monitored to insure that he is growing in grace and knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Bob was then released from Cardiac Rehab and encouraged to exercise faithfully by doing cardio exercises and weight training.
The new Christian needs to exercise his faith every day, and do some weight training by Bible Study.
Bob will be reassessed after 3 months with perhaps a new exercise regimen implemented.
The Christian needs to listen carefully for the leading of the Holy Spirit to see what areas he needs to work on.
Bob needs to be seen regularly by his cardiologist.
The Christian needs to be in contact with his "cardiologist" daily.
Bob needs to be obedient to any changes in his diet, exercise regimen, etc. that the doctor deems necessary.
The Christian needs to make obedience to God's Word the foremost thing he does. Obedience is better than sacrifice, and the rewards of obedience are too marvelous to even be able to understand.
I'm sure more analogies could be made, but at this point the MRI was over.