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.
Ezekiel 36:26 KJV
Context and Charge:
A reading of the verse just before today's extract reveals God's mind as it relates to those who He wants to use. The verse says God will sprinkle clean water on us and make us clean from all idols and everything else that has defiled. God seems to be saying that a new heart is an additional need, after his cleansing and purification. For anyone who desires to see God's mercy, there has to be a washing and cleansing, and then a surgical operation on the heart. I can't scheme or buy my way into a new heart.
There is nothing I could have done to deserve a new heart. It is within the prerogative of God's mercy and dealings for me to get a new heart. I also get a new spirit. If he says he will give me a new heart, it means that the old one wasn't the kind he could use. If he says He will give me a new spirit, He is already promising the dispensation of the Holy Spirit. It is the Holy Spirit that can birth that which is new in man. All that belong to the old man must die if that which is of the Holy Spirit must survive and thrive.
Conviction and Conclusion:
The word I is mentioned 4 times and the words YOU or YOUR are also mentioned 4 times in the verse above. God has a role to play, and I also have a role to play in my processing, equipping, impactation and usage. It seems that God is saying that there are things inherited from Adam that has to go before He can use me. There are effects and fruits of the sinful nature that must be completely destroyed if God is to use a life for His glory. Would I surrender my life for God to deal with as He pleases?
It has to be clearly noted that the process of God giving me a new heart or putting a right spirit within me will be painful. This will require dealing with what the natural man craves: habits, practices, attitudes and conventions that have become a part of my life. God has to uproot them without a trace left if He is to use me without limits. God says I can take them out of your flesh, and give you a heart of flesh, one that He can write on, mold and bend to His will. He will do His part; would you also give up that which you cannot gain on your own, in order to lay hold of that which you cannot lose? God's time of favour is here.
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