I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. I will cleanse you from all your filthiness and from all your idols. I will also give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit within you. I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you a heart of flesh. I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in my statutes. You will keep my ordinances and do them.
Ezekiel 36:25-27 (WEB)
Are you one of those believers who became a committed follower of Christ later in life? Whether you were born again as a child or found faith later, the key point is that devoting your daily day to Jesus didn’t happen until later.
Well, you are in great company. Look at people like, Paul, Ruth, or Moses. What about Abraham or even the many modern-day believers who just found the Lord and never looked back?
If you are 40, 50, 60 or beyond, your life isn’t over. Our key verse for today is our theme. We know God. He has given us the most precious Gift possible.
You have a heart that He can write His story on. You have a heart just made for His Truth, and not a heart of stone that only the world can carve into.
Did you know that the word stone in this verse describes the inanimate gods served by the pagans and Hebrews? Their hearts were too stony to hear God’s voice, leaving them hopelessly lost. The Hebrews chose to push God away and pursue worldly gods—mere statues that were deaf, dumb, and blind.
The key verse for today comes from the book of Ezekiel in the Old Testament. Unfortunately, many believers just won’t read the Old Testament. Whatever the reason, they are missing some great, true stories.
Mostly, they are missing God. They are missing examples of God working in the lives of men, women and children of every age. Many have made it into God’s Book by name.
Ezekiel gave God’s message to the Hebrews to help them see their sin and God’s Lordship, (which never ends) and God’s promise that would be fulfilled.
Most of the book of Ezekiel parallel’s The Revelation and is a picture of Christ that men should be drawn to by the Spirit for redemption, though many reject Him.
God gave us hearts that could comprehend the Gospel. The story of Jesus and the future salvation of the world was written in the book of Ezekiel. (Ezekiel 1:26-27)
I was one of those eight-year-olds who truly believed in God but didn’t start to mature spiritually until I was in my fifties. Yes, that is a deep regret. But God has been good and kind all my life.
I have received blessings and joys that I’ll hold in my heart forever. I have had setbacks and loss. I have suffered illness and disaster. And I can truly say that I am grateful for each experience including the dark days.
Yes, I am grateful for illness! That is what sat me down and gave me a choice. I could be scared, depressed and anxious. Or I could open God’s Word. I could talk to Him like never before. And for three and a half years God began to pull all of the dark days from my life into the light.
The Spirit living in me helped me to see my blessings. He taught me where I needed to grow. He revealed treasures from His Word that I should have known all along.
Yet God never made me feel unusable. He made me feel like His daughter. And I am!
The sweetest thing I will never forget is the day I realized I was praying and actually talking to my best friend. My prayer life had often felt awkward and weak. I knew God was there; yet many days I felt disconnected in the mundane flow of life.
Now, I talk to God all the time and know He hears me. My Savior uses me like never before to reach others with the Gospel and encourage believers, always with His leadership and strength. He uses my hands, feet, and voice.
So, what about you? Are you filled with joy and free from your cage of a stony heart? Do you see people around you that need Jesus? Do you cry with brothers and sisters who are hurting?
Be excited about where all your journey may take you. It may be hard or filled with earthly loss, but trust God enough and go anywhere with Him.
You know, there is a scripture in 2 Corinthians similar to our key verse. This one was penned by another late bloomer. The apostle, Paul. He was expressing his joy in seeing God’s Work in the lives of believers in Corinth. He was aware that every bit of his work was really God’s doing. He humbly loved to see the soft hearts that had been converted under his care.
Take a look at Paul’s version of this passage in 2 Corinthians 3.
Ministry of the Spirit: From Letter to Life
This “letter” is not written with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
Can others see Jesus written on your heart? I hope so.
What should you be doing as a committed believer?
- Love like Jesus does, even if it hurts.
- Go where Jesus sends you, even if you are afraid.
- Listen to the Holy Spirit’s voice, even in the noise.
- Pray like you are talking to your best Friend. Because you are.
- Learn more about God by doing more than just reading His Word. Absorb it.
- Tell others about the story of Jesus’ redeeming Love in your life. Why keep it to yourself?
Share the Good News in your world!
Isaiah 52:7
World English Bible (WEB)
by Public Domain. The name “World English Bible” is trademarked.
Getting the Seed out of the basket and into hungry hearts. Matthew 13 