The hard heart matter

And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations.

Ezekiel 36:26‭-‬27 NLT
Today, as we begin the start of a new week, it's a great opportunity for us to allow God to give His diagnosis on our hearts. What type of heart do you possess? A stony stubborn heart is difficult for anything to grow in. There's no way for a seed to germinate on a stone or rock. Similarly, a stony heart cannot receive the life of the Word of God.
When Jesus walked the earth, He was saddened by the hardness of the people's hearts and couldn't do many miracles because of their unbelief (Mark 3:5, Isaiah 6:10). In fact, He encountered this problem on more than one occasion, frequently remarking even about His disciples' heart condition as being dull and they were slow of hearing (Mark 8:17, Mark 6:52, Matthew 15:16)! They had not the faith or humility to trade their hardened hearts for a heart of flesh. Like good soil, a tender responsive heart enables the Word of God to grow and be established in a person's life. When King Solomon asked God for wisdom, he literally asked God for a hearing heart. A heart that refuses to listen to the voice of God and in turn respond with faith will eventually become hardened. But this usually doesn't happen over night. In some translations, the Word describes a "heart that is hardened" as a "calloused heart". Like callouses on the skin that form with time, the constant decision to respond in unbelief grows on a person's heart gradually. At first, the effect of unbelief is not recognizable but over time, the condition of the hardened heart will surely manifest itself through a person's behaviour and words.
What is the Lord trying to tell you that you've been putting off on doing for a while? What's the Lord telling you that He wants to do in your life and you haven't received it in faith? Your responses to these two questions are fundamental in identifying the callouses that have grown around your heart. Let's ask Him to give us a heart of flesh. A heart that grieves and bleeds for the things that break His heart. What does the Holy Spirit need to renew in your life today?

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