“Spiritual Heart Surgery”
I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh. —Ezekiel 36:26
Read Ezekiel 36:16-27
The prophet had foretold that Jerusalem would be destroyed and the temple would be burned, and after twelve long years, it finally happened. However, the same prophet was also able to bring a message of comfort. God would, in His time, fulfill another blessed promise. It would take place through the manifestation of God’s great power, for He said, “I will” (v.24)! This promise is fulfilled every time God regenerates a sinner. These words predicted what the Spirit of God did at Pentecost to the still-unborn New Testament Church. What a rich promise was given: I will take away your stony heart.
What kind of heart do you have? Is it a cold and indifferent heart? That is the kind of heart with which you were born, and there is only One who can take away hearts of stone. Do you pray for Him to take away your stony heart? Do you also ask, “What must I do to be saved?” Do you hunger and thirst for His righteousness? You need to be able to give an answer to these questions. So, examine yourself. As the Israelites in exile longed to return to their homeland to worship God in the temple, by God’s grace His children may exclaim that a day in the House of the Lord is better than being anywhere else. Their desire is to be in the Sanctuary of God and to live according to His commandments.
What does it mean to have a “stony heart” as opposed to a “heart of flesh”?