Imagine two friends chatting about life's challenges and the promise of change. "You know," one friend starts, "sometimes it feels like my heart is just…hard. Unresponsive. Like a stone."
"Yes!" the second friend agrees. "Like you know what you should do, or how you should feel, but you just can't seem to get there."
"Exactly, says the first friend, it’s like wanting to be more patient and loving, but something inside resists. It's like being stuck with a stony heart, as described in Ezekiel 36:26”.
The second friend points out, "That's where the next part of that verse comes in. God doesn't just say, 'You have a heart of stone.' He says, 'I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.' "
A contemplative silence settles and then. The first friend nods slowly. "A heart of flesh… tender, responsive. That sounds like a heart that can truly connect with God and with others."
The second friend continues, "And it's not just the heart. The next verse, Ezekiel 36:27, adds, 'I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.', God promises not only to give us a new, soft, and responsive heart, but also to put His Spirit within us, empowering us to actually live in ways that honor Him. It's His work within us that enables us to follow His commands, not our own efforts."
The first friend smiles. "That's such a relief. It means not having to try to chip away at a stony heart by oneself. God promises to do the work, and He'll enable me to walk in His ways."
Reflection: What steps can you take this week to surrender to His power and embrace a heart that is more sensitive and responsive to His will?