Heart Tenderizer

Ez 11:19,20 "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, 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."

 

Total transformation. That is what God is in the business of doing. Totally transforming lives and making us new again.

 

Here was a country that was totally messed up. They had turned their backs on God. They had gone their own way. They did their own thing. The result was death and division. But God… God does not want death. God does not want division. God wants life and unity because God's primary character quality is love. "God is love." Sure, He is also just and righteous and holy and powerful, and He uses those attributes when needed, but what He really wants is to show us that He loves us. That He cares for us. He wants to extend mercy and grace to us. He wants us to see His goodness. So what did He do for Israel? What will He do for us? "I will give them one heart." I will put within them a new spirit. I will remove their heart of stone. I will give them a heart of flesh. I will be their God. This is an act of God. He does it. We don't conjure it up…He brings it about.

 

I see junk going on around me all the time. People who know better. People who have turned their backs on God and their family and their church. I have not gotten to the point of sighs and groans yet, but I get impatient. I want God to do things now, in my time, according to my calendar. God doesn't work that way. He does, He acts, He works according to His timetable. Maybe He is waiting for my sighs and groans. Maybe He wants to work on my heart of stone first and then He will work on others. Maybe I am the one who needs transformation.

 

The thing I can take hope in is that He will do it. He will work in me. He will work in others. He is working now. He is tenderizing hard hearts so that we are unified. He is tenderizing hard hearts so that we obey Him. He is tenderizing hard hearts so that we only have one focus…Him. We are His people…He is our God. Nothing else. No one else. He did it for Israel and He is in the business of doing it today.