A Change Of Heart

-November 26, 2021-

Good morning, happy Friday,

“I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh. I will put My Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My judgments and do them.”

(Ezekiel 36:26-27).

Today’s verses were spoken by the Lord to His people Israel, though they have application to the conversation of a soul to Christ, and the change that God makes in a person’s life. Only God can save a person and change his life. He changes us from the inside out. 2 Corinthians 5:17 describes the miraculous change, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold, all things have become new.”

When the Lord saves a soul, He takes our heart of stone, hard, stubborn, and unyielding; He gives in its place a soft, tender, surrendered heart. Oh, what a change! What a transformation! We all know how hard stone is and how hard it is break. Only the Lord can break us, our will, and our pride. On the other hand, we also know how soft and tender a baby’s skin is. When we get saved, there is a huge change in our lives. Our hearts are new, in fact all things are new.

We are not the same anymore. We have different desires, different friends, different motives, and a complete change of lifestyle. The things we once did while in our sins no longer has the lure it once had; Satan is no longer in control, Christ is our new boss. We want to live for Him, please Him, and serve Him. Once we were slaves to sin, now we are slaves to righteousness.

I know of a lady in our church whose husband is unsaved, and not only uninterested in gospel, but his heart is very hardened and resistant to the truth. He gives her such a hard time. We have been praying for him for years. There is hope because God is the God of hope. In fact it is actually easier to save someone like this than to save a person who thinks they are saved. Many people think they are good, and somehow their good deeds will outweigh their bad deeds and God will allow them into heaven. That is the worst fallacy in the world. Only those who come to Jesus, confess their sins, believe that He died for their sins, and receive Him as Lord and Savior, are saved. Sin must be paid for, and Jesus paid our sin debt in the cross.

My prayer for those who are unsaved is that they will humble themselves and come to Christ. They don’t know what the are missing. He gives us joy, peace, forgiveness, and eternal life. So often they say, “Why did I wait so long to receive Christ?” God will use them in the remaining years of their lives to serve Him, then when they die or the Rapture happens, will go to heaven to be with the Lord.

That familiar phrase, “He had a change of heart,” was never more true of a new believer in Christ. Old friends and others we live with, work with, or go to school will notice the change. They may say, “I am happy for you, but that’s not for me.” People whom we once hung out with, don’t want to hang out with us anymore. God gives us new friends, brothers and sisters in Christ who share our faith in the Lord. We are so incredibly happy and joyful in our new life. We are indwelt and led by the Holy Spirit. We no longer hunger for the things of this world, we have riches and blessings in Christ which are incredible and eternal!

That old sinful, hard heart is gone, and we have that new, soft, and loving heart in its place. We are still sinners, but sinners saved by grace. We still have the old nature but we now have a new nature which grows stronger and stronger through prayer, the Word, and fellowshipping with other believers especially in a sound Bible believing church. Let us rejoice that God gave a new heart of flesh, having taken away the old stony heart.

Have a blessed day following the Lord and leading others to salvation in Him. Let us obey the Lord and serve Him with all our hearts. Stay safe and healthy.

In His grace,

Dean