A New Heart
A New Heart || Ezekiel 36:26-28 || Pastor Aaron Robinson
A new heart I will give you, and a new spirit I will put within you; and I will remove from your body the heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you and make you follow my statues and be careful to observe my ordinances. Then you shall live in the land that I gave to your ancestors; And you shall be my people, and I will be your God.
This week we focused on repentance, the act of turning back to God. As we prepare for Holy Week it is imperative that we acknowledge the wrong paths we have taken over the course of our lives and correct those paths toward God. Many of us have been persuaded to do as we desire and go where we think is best for us at that moment, but the act of repentance is us realizing we made some wrong turns and need to get back on path God has for us. We end this week and begin what is known as Holy Week with matters of the heart.
In the gospels Jesus makes his way toward Jerusalem on what we know as Saturday, Jerusalem was the hot seat of imperial power and religious Dogma. The scripture for today's devotional comes from the book of Ezekiel, the prophet is dealing with issues of the heart. Ezekiel understood human anatomy, we know this because in the following chapter he talks about the valley of the dry bones. In the text God is speaking to people who are caught up in the idols of government and the degradation of a lack of compassion.
God is speaking through Ezekiel reminding the people that God can clean them up if they are willing to be cleaned. God is telling the people that their heart has turned to stone, but it can be fixed and replaced, their spirit has gone astray but it can be made anew. Zekiel was likely reminded of psalms 51 verse 10 through 12 where David asked God to create in him a clean heart and put in him a new spirit. God desires to fix them because they are God's representative to the world. When I was a child, my mom would always remind me when I left the house, that I was representing her. I believe the same holds true with God we the people of God represent God and God desires was to be represented well.
I had to ask why does God give us a new heart? I believe God gives us a new heart because God understands the world we live in can cause our heart to become hard or callous. The trauma and the difficulties that we have faced can cause our heart to become uncaring and unconcerned about the plight of others. For us to truly be in relationship with God we must be in relationship with each other which requires a love and compassion that comes from God Flowing toward others.
The text also tells us that the people will get a new spirit, I believe this is needed because their spirit is aligned with the idols they started to chase. We missed the mark when we align ourselves with things that are not of God which seek to grab our spirits and push the spirit of God out of us. The beautiful thing about this text is God doesn't say the spirit will be repaired but it will be replaced. God is always doing a new thing in our lives allowing the Holy Spirit to rest on us and in us. When we are with God, we are new creations.
Ezekiel is letting the nation Israel know and even us today that God wants to give us a new lease on life by changing our lives. The question is are we ready for the new heart God wants to give us? As we journey toward the cross let us surrender all and allow God to do open heart surgery on us. Let God breathe new breath into us so that we can truly be used by God. Then we can truly be the people of God, working toward the Kingdom of God.
Prayer: Most gracious and merciful God we thank you foreseeing in us what we fail to see. We come with hard hearts asking that you replaced them with a heart that is worthy of you. Breathe new life into us so that you spirit will be ever present in US. Amen and Ase
This week we focused on repentance, the act of turning back to God. As we prepare for Holy Week it is imperative that we acknowledge the wrong paths we have taken over the course of our lives and correct those paths toward God. Many of us have been persuaded to do as we desire and go where we think is best for us at that moment, but the act of repentance is us realizing we made some wrong turns and need to get back on path God has for us. We end this week and begin what is known as Holy Week with matters of the heart.
In the gospels Jesus makes his way toward Jerusalem on what we know as Saturday, Jerusalem was the hot seat of imperial power and religious Dogma. The scripture for today's devotional comes from the book of Ezekiel, the prophet is dealing with issues of the heart. Ezekiel understood human anatomy, we know this because in the following chapter he talks about the valley of the dry bones. In the text God is speaking to people who are caught up in the idols of government and the degradation of a lack of compassion.
God is speaking through Ezekiel reminding the people that God can clean them up if they are willing to be cleaned. God is telling the people that their heart has turned to stone, but it can be fixed and replaced, their spirit has gone astray but it can be made anew. Zekiel was likely reminded of psalms 51 verse 10 through 12 where David asked God to create in him a clean heart and put in him a new spirit. God desires to fix them because they are God's representative to the world. When I was a child, my mom would always remind me when I left the house, that I was representing her. I believe the same holds true with God we the people of God represent God and God desires was to be represented well.
I had to ask why does God give us a new heart? I believe God gives us a new heart because God understands the world we live in can cause our heart to become hard or callous. The trauma and the difficulties that we have faced can cause our heart to become uncaring and unconcerned about the plight of others. For us to truly be in relationship with God we must be in relationship with each other which requires a love and compassion that comes from God Flowing toward others.
The text also tells us that the people will get a new spirit, I believe this is needed because their spirit is aligned with the idols they started to chase. We missed the mark when we align ourselves with things that are not of God which seek to grab our spirits and push the spirit of God out of us. The beautiful thing about this text is God doesn't say the spirit will be repaired but it will be replaced. God is always doing a new thing in our lives allowing the Holy Spirit to rest on us and in us. When we are with God, we are new creations.
Ezekiel is letting the nation Israel know and even us today that God wants to give us a new lease on life by changing our lives. The question is are we ready for the new heart God wants to give us? As we journey toward the cross let us surrender all and allow God to do open heart surgery on us. Let God breathe new breath into us so that we can truly be used by God. Then we can truly be the people of God, working toward the Kingdom of God.
Prayer: Most gracious and merciful God we thank you foreseeing in us what we fail to see. We come with hard hearts asking that you replaced them with a heart that is worthy of you. Breathe new life into us so that you spirit will be ever present in US. Amen and Ase
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