The Great Surgeon!

The thing that seems to have drawn the nation of Israel away from God again and again was a FAULTY HEART; a hardened heart. Even Jesus was faced with such a HEART CONDITION during His ministry on earth. (i.e. Mark 3:5) However, during the time of Ezekiel there was mention of when some needed HEART SURGERY would take place.

We read. . .
"(19) And I will give them one heart, and a new spirit I will put within them. I WILL REMOVE THE HEART OF STONE from their flesh AND GIVE THEM A HEART OF FLESH, (20) that they may walk in my statutes and keep my rules and obey them. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God." ( Ezekiel 11:19-20)

That actually sounds like a HEART TRANSPLANT! The old heart could not be cured. It needed to be replaced! This radical change is mentioned again in Ezekiel 36:26. As the heart is a vital organ within the body for sustaining life, so it is also true in a spiritual sense.

Picture a cold, dead, stone. Now consider a heart in such a condition and its inability to function to bring life to the body or to be responsive to life situations. A stony heart can no longer feel. Sin is not felt so that repentance can follow. Remove the unfeeling, untouchable, unresponsive and replace it with that which is soft and tender and able to respond to God's Will and true life returns!

A mere focus on the external is not enough. That may merely bring conformation; conforming outward action to what seems expected. There is instead a need for a radical change within. That is transformation; real change of the essence of the life toward truly becoming what one ought to be. It was the "spiritual surgery" God would perform. However, it did depend on a continuation of following after Him rather than continuing after the detestable things. ( Ezekiel 11:21) God would place a heart of flesh in their flesh; that which should by nature function as He intended!

With a NEW HEART, unity would be possible with one another and with God. It is the same for us today. It is a heart sensitive to others needs and best interests and able to obediently surrender to God's Will. Not a dead heart, but a living one! Not a hard heart, but a soft and yielding one. With Christ we have the opportunity to be "born again" ( John 3:3) and through baptism rise to "newness of life" ( Romans 6:3-4) as a "new creation." ( 2 Corinthians 5:17) Praise God for the radical transformation He can bring to our lives to make us what He wants us to be!

Have a great day LIVING THE NEW LIFE GOD BRINGS!
Carl

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