A New Heart and a New Spirit
God told Ezekiel to tell the people that He would destroy Jerusalem and all of the people who had been unfaithful to the Lord would be killed. That made Ezekiel sad. He wondered if all of the people would be wiped out. God assured him that there were faithful people scattered through the nations, and He would cause them to return to Jerusalem. Also, He would cause them to have one heart and a new spirit, so they would be faithful to Him. (Ezekiel 11:19,20) That greatly encouraged Ezekiel, and it should encourage us, as well.
The one heart God promised would be a "heart of flesh," instead of a heart of stone. The sins of the people had caused their hearts to be as hard as stone, but those returning would have soft hearts that would be eager to do God's will. The new spirit would come from that new heart, so that they would want to walk in God's laws, and be His people. When that happened, He would be their God once more, as He had been in the years before their rebellion.
I wonder how many of us need a heart of flesh, because our hearts are hard? We do not desire to do God's will, because our unconfessed sins have hardened our hearts to stone. How many of us need a new spirit, because even though we have the Holy Spirit in us, we have denied Him and grieved Him so much that our spirit is not desiring to walk with God each day. If that is the case, we can always turn from our sins, confess them, and return to God. He will draw near to us, if we draw near to Him. However, we have to listen to Him and take the first steps. Then, we can be fully His and experience the abundant life in Christ.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 12-14.
The one heart God promised would be a "heart of flesh," instead of a heart of stone. The sins of the people had caused their hearts to be as hard as stone, but those returning would have soft hearts that would be eager to do God's will. The new spirit would come from that new heart, so that they would want to walk in God's laws, and be His people. When that happened, He would be their God once more, as He had been in the years before their rebellion.
I wonder how many of us need a heart of flesh, because our hearts are hard? We do not desire to do God's will, because our unconfessed sins have hardened our hearts to stone. How many of us need a new spirit, because even though we have the Holy Spirit in us, we have denied Him and grieved Him so much that our spirit is not desiring to walk with God each day. If that is the case, we can always turn from our sins, confess them, and return to God. He will draw near to us, if we draw near to Him. However, we have to listen to Him and take the first steps. Then, we can be fully His and experience the abundant life in Christ.
Tomorrow, I intend to read Ezekiel 12-14.