The electrocardiogram (EKG) is a test that helps your doctor determine your heart’s health by measuring its electrical activity. The pattern of these signals can tell your physician if your heart is functioning normally, under stress, or damaged. What if every follower of Jesus could get a spiritual EKG today? I wonder what it would say about our spiritual health.

Jesus gave this sort of test to a man named Nicodemus (John 3). Externally, Nicodemus looked like a man who was spiritually healthy. He was from the upper class of Jewish society and was conservative in his Jewish beliefs. He was a Pharisee (belonging to the strict religious sect of Judaism) and was a member of the ruling council (Sanhedrin), which implies he was a rabbi. He was sensitive to the prevailing doctrinal trends of the time and possessed the appearance of a man who had a strong spiritual heartbeat. He was well-versed in the Torah and was even interested in Jesus’ teaching.

Nicodemus came to Jesus at night (v.2), fearing intense criticism and persecution. But Jesus didn’t criticize him. Instead, He met him at his point of need—he needed to be born again. In his time with Jesus, Nicodemus found out that his spiritual EKG didn’t even register a heartbeat. He was spiritually dead. External conformity to the Law, knowledge of the Torah, and his ethnicity (Jewish) were not enough to experience the kingdom of God. He needed a new heart, one that could be given by God.

Many people are relying on external religious associations—church attendance, religious friends, good works-to grant them access into God’s family. But the only way to gain access into the kingdom of God is to have a heart transplant, where God takes out our dead heart and replaces it with a new one (Ezekiel 36:26).