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May the word of God, His unfailing promise, speak to you anew as we continue to meditate upon it -The Lord bless you out of Zion; May you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life. [Psalm 128:5] Your calling and all that is involved in it, is His blessing, for you have been called to inherit His blessing. And when it is a holy calling, the holiness that is in essence, becoming more and more like Him, as you are conformed to the image of His Son, is the greatest blessing that you and I can receive and experience in our lives. Thus, ‘‘Be holy, as I am holy’, is His blessing, as you share in His holiness, even as He Himself makes you holy. And for it to happen, He will cleanse you of your sins, to make you righteous. And He will give you a heart that is not stony but soft, a new heart so to speak, that will lead to a new way of living, where the sin principle may be still there, but you don’t have to sin, as you are empowered through the spirit of regeneration, in you. And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from within you, to give you a heart of flesh. [Ezekiel 36:26]
Above all else guard your heart; For out of it flow the issues of life. [Proverbs 4:23] Heart, in the word of God, depicts the core of your inner being and it is where God works to transform you, to change your behavior. It is what is sustainable. You need to feel His touch, as He probes deeper, to change a stony heart of stubbornness that resists God.
A heart of stone that has to be removed by God, to bring about a transformation in you is characterized by its stubbornness. It can be seen even in a child for it is the effect of sin, in the fallen man; and all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. It is why, scripture goes on to say – Foolishness is bound up in the heart of a child, But the rod of discipline will drive it far from him. [Proverbs 22:15] And it is not about a low level of intelligence, but the foolishness of a fool who says in the stubbornness of his stony heart that there is no God. For, the fallen man who has been conceived and born in sin, desires to live life according to his own will. And what can bring about a change is only the discipline of God’swork of grace in him. No amount of human effort can do the job of removing the effect of sin on you. For, Christ died on the Cross, that you may be the righteousness of God in Him, and it is he whom the Son sets free, who is free. Yes, there is foolishness that is a rebellious stubbornness in the heart of every sinful man, even from his childhood, but God promises to do His incredible work of grace in our hearts, cleansing them, giving us a new heart, and putting His spirit in us. The twisted heart – It becomes necessary because, as the prophet Jeremiah has written, the heart of man is twisted, and desperately sick, and only God can understand it, to also provide the healing solution to it.
For, sin is very deceitful, and can make you avoid God, in the stubbornness, egoistic selfishness, and pride that it sows in your heart There are many examples in the Old Testament of what it can do in a person’s life, even to the point of physical death, though they may have started well, in their relationship with God. It was what happened with king Asa, who had experienced the goodness of God in abundance, having been in a royal position with great riches, wealth, and peace for thirty-nine years. But his end was inglorious, for, in his sickness, with an obstinate and stubborn heart, he resisted turning to God for his healing, but looked everywhere else instead. In the thirty-ninth year of his reign, Asa became diseased in his feet, and his disease became severe. Yet even in his disease, he did not seek the Lord but sought help from the doctors. [2 Chronicles 16:12]
It all began with Adam; and in the familiar parable of the two brothers, the younger son came to his senses, as his heart was made pliable, and repenting of his sin and wrongdoing returned to bask in the love of his Father once more. The elder son though in resentment, and the stubbornness of his heart, thinking of all that he thought he was entitled to, refused to enter into his father’s joy. [Luke 15:11-21] You and I are all prone to stubbornness, a pride that causes contention. It is the effect of sin, and it is also why we all need the help of God, the God who helps people by using people. You need other people in life, and more importantly, you need the God who will bring the right people at the right time. And divine satisfaction becomes your wondrous experience when in loving Him, your will is submitted to God, to fulfill His call, His purpose for your life. But, it is a stubborn heart that can be a toxic barrier in its path.
It encapsulates the life and tragic end of king Asa, and it also describes the challenging times of the last days, when men would be unreasonable – He who is often reproved, yet stiffens his neck; Will suddenly be broken beyond healing. [Proverbs 29:1] But He has also expressed His desire that He does not wish to see even the wicked perish, but all to come to repentance.it is the heart of God. All have sinned, and the need to repent has been the call of God unto His people through His prophets many times for five hundred years. But not heeding it, they were reduced to nothing, in their own land, in bondage, and what followed was four hundred years of the silence of God. And then,. repentance was also the message of the forerunner, John the Baptist, and ultimately, the Messiah, Lord Jesus Himself, as He heralded the kingdom of God.
And when you know that you need to change, today can be the day of your salvation, as you repent of being renewed and restored, to receive a new start and a new way of living. For, God promises to give you a new heart, one that is sensitive and responsive. And it is He alone who can accomplish it, and He will do it. May the prayer of Jeremiah be yours this day, ‘Correct me O Lord, discipline me but with justice, not in your anger, but remembering that I am fragile, lest I am reduced to nothing’ [Jeremiah 10:24] The discipline of God is needed sometimes, painful though it may be, to bring about the change, for what is hurtful in you to be removed, nothing is beyond the outworking of His majestic hand in your life. All your children will be taught of the Lord, and great will be their peace, is His promise to you. And you are one of His children too, is also a very precious truth.
When you want to be rid of the hurtful way in you, to be led in the everlasting path, and it is your prayer, even as it was the psalmist’s, God will certainly do it. And He will change your heart that was previously allergic to God and addicted to sin, remove its stubbornness, make it sensitive to His touch, develop your spiritual reflexes for the things of God, that your response may no longer be poor, but swift. Praying, reading the word of God, and worshiping in the house of God will no longer be something that ‘you have to do’, but, what ‘you love to do’. It is because God has done a good work of grace in you, to remove the sinful, stony heart, that responds to lust, to give you a tender heart, cleansed of unrighteousness by the Blood of Christ, and a new spirit that responds to what is godly and according to His will.
It is the prayer of David, a man after God’s own heart, who knew to whom He needed to turn, as he acknowledged his sin – Create in me a clean heart, O God, renew a right spirit within me; Restore to me the joy of your salvation, And uphold me with a willing spirit. [Psalms 51:10,112] It can be yours too this day, that your heart may be cleansed by Him, that He may remove what is sinful, the stubborn rebellion, to make it sensitive and willing to hear His voice, feel His tender touch, that you may walk in the way everlasting. Only God can bring about the change, and if He has said ‘I will’, He certainly will. From a place of ‘Do I have to pray?’, He will lift you up to be able to say, ‘I love to pray’. For, He Himself will cleanse your heart of all unrighteousness, and He will give you a steadfast heart, that is not bogged down with indecisiveness, and a willing spirit that sustains you in your walk with God so that the change that He works in you is not a flash in the pan, that is temporary, but remains in you, that you may be conformed to the image of the Son of God. And may it happen as in willing submission, you offer unto the Lord your heart, your life, so that He may have His way in you, even as you pray, Father, May anything that is hurtful in us be removed, to be replaced with a heart that is sensitive and willing, that we may live a life that is pleasing in Thy sight, that You may be glorified. In the Name of Christ Jesus Amen.
