Ezekiel 36:26 Moreover, I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you, and I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My ordinances and do them.

      What a transformative promise the Lord has given us through Christ our Lord. God loudly proclaims, “I will give you a new heart!” Such a miraculous feat and declaration of God’s power. The extent of what God did may never be clearly understood until we stand in His infinite presence. The Lord transforms the heart of a man who walks throughout life with free will. Our God, with one perfect sacrifice through Christ, which can never be matched by any of the good works, best intentions, or sacrifices made throughout the history of mankind has secured for us an eternal blessing. Not only did God give us a new heart, but He made a way for us to walk in His holy statutes and ordinances by giving us His Spirit. Eze. 36:27 I will put my Spirit within you and cause you to walk in My statutes, and you will keep My ordinances and do them.

      Those who have accepted Jesus as their Lord have become the recipients of a heart that seeks and runs after God. The only fly in this precious ointment is that we are the only ones who can mess this up. Satan can tempt and deceive people’s hearts, but it is still a person’s choice to break fellowship with God. When our hearts are absent from intimacy within our relationship with the Lord, we can become habituated to the routine of religious activity. At this point, our hearts are likely to become stony and callous. In a short time, we can become selfish and mean by showing no sympathy or regard for others. Matt. 15:8 These people honour me with their lips, but their hearts are far from me. Allowing the Holy Spirit to continually lead and direct our ways, will keep our hearts soft and attentive to the perfect love God has lavished upon us.

      When God encountered Saul on the road to Damascus, The Lord gave Saul a new heart that would change his life from the inside out. Here was a man who zealously condemned Christians to death but then, became the man who gave his life for the gospel of Jesus Christ. Phil. 2:17 But even if I am poured out as a drink offering on the sacrificial service of your faith, I am glad and rejoice with all of you. Saul’s heart of stone had been cracked open by the power of the Holy Spirit which allowed Jesus Christ to rule and reign in him for the rest of his life. What a testimony of God’s goodness and grace.

      Jesus had a heart that was always submitted to God the Father. He continually pointed out that the issues and problems the people were going through were often the result of what was in their hearts. Luke 6:45 A good man brings good things out of the good stored up in his heart, and an evil man brings evil things out of the evil stored up in his heart. For the mouth speaks what the heart is full of. Jesus consistently spoke to the stony heart condition that was prevalent in the religious leaders and priests of the day. He called out their hypocrisy by showing them that what was coming out of their hearts were laws and rules that they could not keep but were expected to be kept by the people they ruled over. Matt. 23:4 They tie up heavy, cumbersome loads and put them on other people’s shoulders, but they themselves are not willing to lift a finger to move them. The hearts of the Pharisees had lost compassion for the hearts of the people.

      I find that when I become aware of a stony heart beginning to manifest in my life is often after I have been offended by something or have become complacent in my dedication to what God asks of me. If I have been hurt or treated unkindly I notice that gristle starts to form on the edges of my heart. My reaction to my clogged-up heart begins to cause self-preservation and the agenda to protect myself moves to the front of my mind. Thank God for the warning from the Holy Spirit who points to these unwelcomed symptoms and preps me for an operation by the Lord as fast as repentance comes through my mouth. 1John 1:8 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins, and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

      Even the most hard-hearted person can receive a holy recreated heart from God if they want one. We know this battle for the heart that is going on in the Heavenly realm, is the crux of the matter. Satan would not be going after the Word of God in our hearts if it were not so important for our ability to have a heart of flesh that pursues God. Mark 4:15 Some people are like seed along the path, where the word is sown. As soon as they hear it, Satan comes and takes away the word that was sown in them. Let us be clean in our hearts by pleading the blood of Jesus, and remain soft-hearted through the power of the Holy Spirit. Let us be grateful to our Heavenly Father for His amazing miracle of eternal life that He placed within our souls. Yes, Lord, by Your grace, give us a heart of flesh and a love that runs after You, and You only. This is what we all secretly want and need. Amen!