Eighteen years ago, a little boy received a new heart. Now see how a pillbox reminds this new pastor of God’s grace.

It’s there on my kitchen table. My pillbox. Small and seemingly insignificant, yet I need it to keep myself alive. It’s a reminder of my mortality. A reminder that I can’t avoid the consequence of sin, even if my doctors have found ways to prolong its coming. A reminder that my time in this death-bound body is limited.

It’s a reminder of my sin as well. A reminder that each day I live, I live in imperfection: in want, need, hunger, pain, and sorrow. But it’s not just the reminder of the results of my sin. It’s sin itself. My own sin. The ugly, self-seeking, self-serving sin that declared me guilty before God. Sin that condemned me to death—both physical and eternal.

“What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body that is subject to death? Thanks be to God, who delivers me through Jesus Christ our Lord!” (Romans 7:24,25).

It’s also a reminder that each day I live is a blessing. It’s a reminder of God’s grace: of the life he preserves for me despite my death-meriting sinfulness, not through aspirin and anti-rejection meds but through his Son; of victory over sin, death, and the power of the devil; of sins forgiven and eternal life guaranteed.

Of course, it’s not really my pillbox that tells me these truths. It’s God’s Word. Most often, the words of Romans chapter 7 bring these truths to mind: my sinful state, the certainty of death, and the daily struggle against sin and temptation. Yet they also remind me of God’s greater grace—not just in preserving my life for a time on earth but also in giving me the promise of eternal life, free from this “body of death” and all its needs.

It’s been 18 years with a new heart and no complications—that’s astounding! But even this new heart will need replacing. God will raise this mortal body from the grave and transform it into a glorious body that will live with him forever!

I pray that as I begin my ministry, God will use me as a pillbox too. I pray he uses me to remind people of their sin and their Savior. I trust he’ll use me to show how, in the midst of our struggles with sin, victory is ours through Jesus; there is an eternity free from sin waiting for us. I pray and trust that God has a plan for me to be a reminder, just like my pillbox, of his grace.

Read more about Benjamin Roekle’s heart transplant as a child.

Author: Benjamin Roekle
Volume 112, Number 07
Issue: July 2025