SCRIPTURE: Ezekiel 11
OBSERVATION/APPLICATION:
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]
The remaining leader in Jerusalem had given up on the exiles, and were themselves living immoral and cruel lives, bringing God’s anger on them.
Ezekiel is wondering whether there is any hope for Israel, with the exiles gone and the remaining people rebelling against God too.
God’s answer – they need heart surgery, all of them.
As long as the heart remains closed to God, they will not be able to produce the kind of life God expects, the kind of life He created us for.
Jesus replied, “Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again. [John 3:3]
Jesus speaks of a new birth, but that is essentially the same thing as God says through Ezekiel – a new heart and a new spirit equals a new beginning.
From that new heart the new life can flow.
The consistent message of the bible is that the heart is the source of life or death.
God created us with pure and good hearts, hearts that loved God and people.
A good God, with good people (hearts) in a good creation resulted in a good kingdom, or God’s kingdom.
Enter sin and rebellion and selfishness, and the whole balance is ruined; God remains good, but sinful hearts produce sinful results, and the world is polluted as well.
For out of the heart come evil thoughts—murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false testimony, slander. [Matthew 15:19]
And as long as our hearts remain dead to God (stone, not flesh), the result is not God’s good kingdom but our messed up world.
And we will not, we cannot experience God’s kingdom paradise as long as our hearts keep producing this pollution.
Through Jesus death and resurrection, the curse is broken and God’s Spirit can return and restore life to our dead/dying hearts.
The Spirit produces the new birth, the new heart, the new spirit in us.
And in partnership with the Spirit of life, we start producing the good fruit, or the good life, that results in God’s good kingdom.
We have been given new life, a new beginning, a new heart and spirit – we are therefore a new creation.
Now we must live like it; in the power of the Spirit we must guard our hearts, for they are the key to life, or death.
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. [Proverbs 4:23]
Today I have a choice; will I produce goodness with His help, or will I pollute the world with selfishness, immorality or cruelty?
PRAYER:
Lord, our world is no better than it was in Ezekiel’s day. The problem remains the same, twisted human hearts. We need spiritual heart surgery, and we need to choose healthy heart lifestyles. Help me to guard my heart, and may I produce goodness today.