Today’s reading: Ezekiel 10-12, Psalm 83, John 4
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. Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God (Ezekiel 11:19-20).
Israel had sinned and God’s punishment had come. God used the fall of Jerusalem and his people’s exile to Babylon to draw his people back from their sinful ways. In chapter 11, the prophet Ezekiel reminded them that, in addition to the nation being responsible for sin, each individual was also personally accountable to God.
Today, we are also accountable to God for the choices we make. When we turn from sin and let God work in our lives, he will replace our selfish hearts of stone with ones that are tender, receptive and responsive to his leading. This is what Ezekiel 11:19 calls an “undivided heart”. A new heart with new motives, focused entirely on the truth and light of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Let there be no doubt I am the God of all Creation
God of glory and the God of love
And I have called you out, out of the many nations
To be my people so let me your God
Your heart of stone I will remove, I’ll put a heart of flesh inside of youOne I can touch, one I can move, and one that beats in time with the truth (Rich Mullins, 1896).