Heart Gate
The date of the service this artwork was created: 14 Jun, 2026
Heart Gate
Keep your heart with all diligence, for out of it spring the issues of life.” (Proverbs 4:23)
In Hebrew, the word for “heart” is lev, which refers to the inner person, the seat of our mind, will, emotions and intentions. It is from this place that we think, choose and respond to God and to life.
Jesus doesn’t just care about saving our souls, He also cares about the condition of our souls on this side of eternity. He tells us that healing the brokenness and fragmentation within us as a result of us being “brought forth in iniquity & conceived in sin” (Psalm 51:5) is part of His mandate:
Where he reiterates “He has sent Me to heal the brokenhearted,” in Luke 4:18.
Bringing our hearts before God to undergo healing is both beautiful and unavoidably painful. The thorny twig depicts a little worm hidden within the heart being excised, illustrating how God purges our hearts of everything that is not of Him throughout the healing process. It prompts us to ask, what has become part of the ecosystem of our hearts that needs to be exposed before Jehovah Rapha?
The vibrant flowers and soil emerging from the heart remind us that God is the Vinedresser (John 15:1), carefully tending to the garden of our hearts as we abide in Him. The tiny worm being forced out of the heart also illustrates how it is “the little foxes that spoil the vines” (Song of Solomon 2:15). The very issues we can deceive ourselves into believing are insignificant may actually be what is hindering us from experiencing wholeheartedness.
The interdimensional feel of this painting captures the non-linear, multilayered nature of healing. Healing is both relieving and gut-wrenching. The contrast between the beauty of flowers and the ugliness of thorns and blood captures this duality.
Amanda Bondzanga
© 2026 Amanda Bondzanga™. All rights reserved. No reproduction, distribution, licensing, adaptation, display, publication, or other use of this work is permitted without the prior written permission of the copyright holder. Attribution does not constitute permission.
My pieces are solely owned by me and I give permission for TBP to display it.