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– Second Hand Heart –
Performed by Ben Haenow
(Featuring Kelly Clarkson)
The light of the morning finds you sleeping in my bed
And it’s not like the stories; it’s never like what they said
I know who you want me to be but I’m just not there yet
Yeah, the broken road’s always been home and it’s so hard to forget
Wait for me now
Will you wait for me now?
CHORUS:
I might think too much, drink too much, stay out too late
I know I’m just a fool, but I swear I can change
I can’t steal you the stars, but I can give you this secondhand heart
All your friends think I’m hopeless, they don’t understand
That this imperfect love can start over again
It’s been broken apart, but will you still take my secondhand heart?
(FIRST STANZA REPEATS)
(CHORUS REPEATS)
FIRST BRIDGE:
If you let me show you, I could love you the same
And I can’t steal you the stars, but I can try every day
Oh, you know they’ll never tear us apart
SECOND BRIDGE:
And I’m just a fool, but I swear I can change
And I can’t steal you the stars, but I can try every day
Oh, you know you got my secondhand heart
(SECOND BRIDGE REPEATS)
* * * * *
“It’s been broken apart, but will you still take my secondhand heart?”
When Jesus Christ appeared to His disciples in the ancient Americas, He declared the Law of Moses to be fulfilled in Him, and that their burnt offerings and sacrifices would no longer be acceptable to Him. In place of animal sacrifice, he taught the Nephites that a broken heart and contrite spirit would be required of all those who professed to follow Him and sought to be like Him (3 Nephi 15:2-10; 3 Nephi 9:15-20).
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| "Similitude" by Walter Rane Blood sacrifice began by the Lord's command with Adam & Eve, after they were expelled from the Garden of Eden. |
When you consider all the blood that was spilt, poured out, and dabbed on holy altars or at their bases over centuries of Mosaic Law, one can only wonder if the Israelites and ancient American followers of Christ ever pondered curiously the necessity of so much symbolic carnage in the name of Deity. Throughout the Old Testament record we can see that some generations of the children of Israel did not fully understand God’s Law with its statutes, ordinances, and commandments; this misunderstanding repeatedly led the Lord’s covenant people into pride, spiritual blindness, and idolatry (Psalms 78:5-8).
As we read the scriptures today, we may wonder ourselves how many more young bullocks, rams, sheep, or pairs of turtledoves would be required for them to finally see the likeness and image of a Messiah in their offerings consumed by flames. Had I lived then, even I would wonder, “Is it enough yet? What more have we to learn about our God?” For when the Lord did indeed come to earth clothed in flesh, He was recognized by relatively few as the promised Son of God during His lifetime, but rejected by the majority of the Jews in Jerusalem and killed by the faith’s highest leaders (John 5:43-47).
I can visualize the Tabernacle in the wilderness where Aaron, the brother of Moses, and his sons worked—within the outer curtains of the structure the dusty ground is wet and muddy, not with water, but soaked with blood and stained crimson. Mosaic Law was given to the Israelites because they brought with them to Sinai the idolatrous worship of the Egyptians; this kept them from the higher law of the Melchizedek Priesthood. Today’s standard for peace offerings and sin offerings are not as complicated, at least in deed. But still, the gift of a broken heart and a contrite Spirit, along with the blessed and sanctified bread and water may sometimes seem to us of little avail compared to the complicated and meticulous grandeur of sacrifice and offerings performed by the sons of Levi.
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| Latter-day Saints today still kneel at altars inside holy temples to make sacrifices and covenants with God. |
And yet, that is all that the Lord requires of us—the gathered pieces of our broken hearts, and the low humility of our fallen spirits, given freely over to Him. Like the analogy used by Elder Neal A. Maxwell in a previous section (see "Part 2" of this series), often our offering to God will seem like a trivial, burdensome dandelion upon the altar of God; but the offering—any offering—is accepted by Him when it is given in humility. I have heard the offering of a broken heart described as godly sorrow, which brings us to God to seek forgiveness. Secondarily, the contrite spirit has been called meekness before God and the willingness to be healed and forgiven.
In Moses’ day, according to the Book of Leviticus, a man or woman coming to the temple with an offering gave the best that they had to God for a sacrifice. If, because of scarcity or poverty, he had none of the rightful animals to sacrifice and burn, he brought what he could, even it was only “a handful of flour” mixed with a little oil and incense; and the Levite priest accepted it “to be an offering made by fire, of the sweet savor of the Lord” (Leviticus 2:2).
Elder Maxwell expounded this concept in yet another beautiful way when he said:
“…[R]eal, personal sacrifice never was placing an animal on the altar. Instead, it is a willingness to put the animal in us upon the altar and letting it be consumed! Such is the ‘sacrifice unto the Lord . . . of a broken heart and a contrite spirit,’ (D&C 59:8), a prerequisite to taking up the cross, while giving ‘away all [our] sins’ in order to ‘know God’ (Alma 22:18), for the denial of self precedes the full acceptance of Him.”
~ Elder Neal A. Maxwell, “‘Deny Yourselves of All Ungodliness,’” Ensign, May 1995, 68.
No matter what we have to offer the Lord when we come to Him for help or comfort, He will always receive it with open arms and accept it. It does not matter if it’s the first time we’ve ever sinned or the millionth time (because the lifetime sin-count will be high for all of us); Jesus will take the pieces of our tattered secondhand, third-hand, millionth-hand hearts and guide us in putting them back together. From His high cross on Golgotha He lifts us up with Him through our adversity; and from His high throne in Heaven He releases us from sin and guilt by His atoning power, knowing full well that it will not be the last time. Like Paul wrote to the Galatians, “[we are] crucified with Christ: nevertheless [we] live” because Christ died for us (Galatians 2:20).
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