Hearts Of Stone Vs Hearts Of Flesh

Do you ever just feel dry and heavy inside? Like God is a million miles away and everything is just hard? You've gotten away from the faith you once had, and you're just not sure how you got here or how to get back?

In the Old Testament book of Ezekiel, God called that a heart of stone. 

A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh. And I will put my spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes, and ye shall keep my judgments, and do them. Ezekiel 36:26-27


God hasn't gone anywhere. That heart of stone is usually because we have put something between ourselves and the Lord. And that can be a very scary, lonely place to be when we think about having an idol in our life.

We hate the word idol because it sounds like worshipping something horrible and evil. We're not like that, right? Well, we may not be serving an evil entity, but we might be putting up walls and boundaries that are keeping us from a complete, full relationship with the Lord.

What might that look like?
Doing six other things in the morning before saying a prayer of gratitude like you used to.
Reading a regular book before studying God's word.
Changing the kind of music you listen to.
Only showing up to church a time or two instead of every time the door is open like you once did.
Containing God to certain times of the day or the week instead of consulting Him about every action you take.
Keeping our faith to yourself instead of sharing the miracles God has done in your life.
Spending more time on a device than face-to-face with the Lord.

Did any these sound familiar and touch your heart? I know they did mine. We all want to have those hearts of flesh, so it's quite convicting to realize that we may be our own problem today. But all it takes is repentance, asking forgiveness, and asking for help to change and stay changed.

It's also interesting that God says He will give us a new heart. Not the old one back again, but a new one. The old heart failed and became stony, and God doesn't say He'll just fix that one right up. He's giving us something new and fresh and perfectly ready for this moment, right here and now. He's ready to do open heart surgery if we'll just let Him.

Lord, I ask you today to fulfill this promise from your word. I ask that you would take this old, heavy, stony heart - rip it out completely. I don't want it! Then please replace it with a soft, fleshy, healthy heart that you've prepared for me for this moment. Draw me closer to you and bring us back into perfect fellowship. Replace my desire for anything else with a love and longing for you. In Jesus' precious name, Amen!

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