The heart of stone

THE HEART OF STONE

“And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (Ezekiel 36:26 NLT).

Most of our problems exist because we have problems in our hearts. Thus, we tend to be rebellious and disobedient. For instance, our human nature tends to ignore the ten commandments.

The Bible calls the heart that is hard and stubborn a stony heart.

 “… I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart” (Ezekiel 36:26 NLT).

The good news is that it doesn’t matter if we are difficult people, God guarantees we can renew our rebellious, hard and stubborn way of thinking and become people who are receptive, teachable and humble.

The Bible says that we cannot conform and say, “Well, this is just how I am”. Instead we must pursue to renew our old ways of thinking. If we have an “arrival mentality” we will never be able to change our stony hearts into tender and responsive hearts.

Many times, God is speaking to us, but we have a hard time listening to Him because our hearts are not aligned to Him. If you have had symtoms of rebellion and have been ignoring the Lord’s plans for your life, then you need to check your heart.

Ask yourself, “Who or what is my heart aligned to? Why do I do what I do every day?”. Tell God everything that is in your heart; believe me, He desires to hear you and give you the clarity you cannot obtain in your own human knowledge. Do your best to guard your heart because from it flows life.

“Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect” (Romans 12:2 NLT).

Think about it:

What symtoms of rebellion have your been showing lately?
What can you do today to guard your heart so it can be tender and responsive to God?