“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.”

What is the condition of your heart?  In the Bible the heart is considered the seat of life or strength. Hence, it means mind, soul, spirit, or one's entire emotional nature and understanding.  The heart is therefore the very essence of who we are, and its condition reflects our relationship to and with God!  In a physical sense, a hardened heart is a serious health condition.  A thickened heart muscle and changes in the structure of heart cells can trigger an irregular and often very rapid heartbeat called A Fib. A Fib also raises the risk of blood clots, which can travel to the brain and cause a stroke. In a spiritual sense, a hardened heart represents an inability to embrace God.

‘For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes.  Otherwise, they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them. (Matt 13:15).

This unhealthy state was true of Israel, who had repeatedly turned away from God, but it is also true of every unbeliever before they have an encounter with Jesus. However, when we encounter Jesus, the promise of God is that He will bring about a change in us if we believe.  We will receive a new spirit, the promised Holy Spirit, who will live within us, and a new, soft, fleshy heart.  Now the word ‘flesh’ in the N.T. normally represents the sinful nature of man, but here, it represents the direct opposite of a hardened heart, a pliable heart that can see, hear, understand, and be taught!

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Application:

My mother died from severe heart disease.  The only early symptoms were shortness of breath and some irregular heartbeats.  Only during surgery to implant a pacemaker, was the true condition of her heart revealed.  How do we check the condition of our ‘heart’ to ensure we don’t have a ‘spiritual heart attack’?  Spend some time before God, asking Him to show you if there are any areas of your ‘Heart’ that need softening – maybe some serious surgery is required to enable you to come closer to God?

Prayer:

Heavenly Father. I know that you do not look at the things people look at. People look at the outward appearance, but you look at the heart. Please examine my heart and show me if there are any areas in my life where surgery is required; if there is any area of hardness which is harming my relationship with you, and let us deal with it together, in Jesus name. Amen.