I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.
–Ezekiel 36:26 (ESV)
I don’t know about you, but sometimes I just get tired. I get tired of my routine. I get tired of people. I get tired of my struggles.
When I experience these things it can result in my heart getting hard. When my heart is hard I don’t let people in. It is like I just want to be left alone. When my heart is hard, I also don’t hear from God. I have put up a wall that prevents the Holy Spirit from communicating with me.
In other words, when I have allowed my heart to get hard, for whatever reason, I am isolated. I become the “grumpy old man” that I definitely don’t want to be.
How can I avoid a hard heart?
Hard hearts have been around a long time. If allowed to persist, hard hearts can lead to permanent isolation. Fortunately, there is a solution.
God shared with Ezekiel, in response to the Israelites having hard hearts, that He will accomplish the impossible. God will give new hearts and new spirits. He will remove hearts of stone and give hearts of flesh.
Because of Jesus, I can be healed. He makes me a “new creation” (see 2 Corinthians 5:17). The isolation is replaced with affirmation and communication. God is so good.
Prayer: Father in Heaven, please forgive me for the hardness of my heart. Thank you for giving me a new heart and a new spirit. I surrender to You so that I can have a new heart of flesh that is tender to others and to You.
