Through the wonders of modern medicine, I have seen men transformed under the hands of a skilled surgeon repairing aged or damaged hearts. One friend spent only three days in the hospital following open-heart surgery and now—six years later—continues to work strong and hard. A man who only weeks ago could barely walk up a flight of steps without a rest break now looks forward to the possibility of downhill skiing again.

Men and women whose spiritual hearts bear the telltale signs of aging are made young again. Arteries clogged by sin—or by a steady diet of sins—are cleared by the cross of Christ. Hearts damaged by the sins of others are made new by His resurrection.

But the skill of a doctor is not only in her ability to treat a disease, to sew in a new valve to replace an old; it is also about exploring the body, identifying whether it is a valve that needs to be repaired or an artery—or both. We need spiritual doctors in our lives, too: men and women who can look beyond the obvious to find the hidden.

During this Holy Week, many people who rarely step into a church will venture in. They go, not as patients to a hospital, but as visitors—yet with no one to visit. The reality is, though, that they—like each one there—are patients. Each of us is ill, carrying in our bodies the cancer of sin.

This Holy Week, would you ask the Great Physician to diagnose your disease, recommend treatment, and bring healing?