God's Heart Transplant
SCRIPTURE: Ezek. 11:18-21
18 “They will return to it and remove all its vile images and detestable idols. 19 I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh. 20 Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God. 21 But as for those whose hearts are devoted to their vile images and detestable idols, I will bring down on their own heads what they have done, declares the Sovereign LORD.”
OBSERVATION: The Lord is speaking about His people, who He has punished for their sinful stubbornness in refusing to turn their hearts back to Him, even after years of warning. The wonderful news here is that He promises to turn their hearts toward Him and give them "hearts of flesh", hearts that will yield and not be hard and stubborn. Notice that they have to take an action first before this happens. They have to choose to rid themselves of idols. Then the Lord promises to change their hearts. He makes a declaration, though, that those who are devoted to their idols will still be punished. He will not change their hearts.
APPLICATION: God will not override the freedom to choose that He created us with. But once we choose Him, we can come to Him and ask that He change our hearts and do the work in us that we cannot do for ourselves. We can ask Him to give us an undivided heart. He can give us a new spirit. What a phenomenal promise! I can rely on God to give me the grace to choose His ways and to obey His Word so that my struggle is lessened.
PRAYER: Father in heaven, Thank you for the great and precious promises in Your Word. Thank You for the grace to live in obedience to You. I have chosen You above all else, and You cover my sins and help me to stay on the narrow path that leads to life everlasting. I also want to pray for those I love who are not now on Your path. Lord, do whatever it takes to cause them to turn, repent, and receive the new heart and new spirit that You have promised. I love You, Lord. In Jesus' Name, Amen.
1 Comments:
This verse from yesterday's reading really spoke to me as well. I can relate to having a heart of stone and idols in my life. I am so thankful that God has taken away my heart of stone and has given me a heart of flesh - even though it hurts right now - and is teaching me to have an undivided heart.
I echo your prayer for those who are not currently on the narrow path. I know that God cannot force us to choose him, but he can take things away until we are in a position where we are forced to examine ourselves, even if we don't want to (that is what happened to me). I believe that is what God did to the Israelites after trying to warn them many times. That is my prayer for those who are hard-hearted and unwilling to examine themselves, like I was not long ago.
Dianna
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