I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. 28 You will live in the land I gave your forefathers; you will be my people, and I will be your God. Ezekiel36:26-28
One of the toughest things about new beginnings is making them actually happen - taking the first step. Although we know we need a new beginning - we find that the "spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak." And sometimes even our spirit is not so willing!!!
Ezekiel is writing to God's people in exile, promising that God would be at work in His people. (He is also anticipating the coming of Jesus and the gift of the Holy Spirit.)
Bear in mind that this is the chapter just before the beautiful picture of the valley of dry bones brought to life by the power of the Word and the Spirit.
When it comes to new beginnings, we think that we have to do it all on our own. We think that we have to impress God and prove our worth to Him -- as if God is impressed by the height, depth or width of our devotion and service!
But Ezekiel teaches us something different:
God will not merely try to teach our dead hearts new tricks - He will totally transform our hearts and put His Spirit in us.
Look at these powerful transformations:
From "heart of stone" to "heart of flesh"
From struggling to obey to being "moved to follow His decrees."
From being far from God to being "my people."
It's God who takes this initiative.
It's His Spirit who transforms us.
It's God who makes us new.
We are not on our own.
Hallelujah!
---
--------------------------
Theo Groeneveld theo@emmanuel.org.za
You can see past EmmDevs at http://emmdev.blogspot.com/
