Today's Scripture:
Ezekiel 36:26

Key Verses:
Ezekiel 36:26

"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."

Jeremiah 24:7

"And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart."

2 Corinthians 5:17

"Therefore if any man be in Christ, he is a new creature: old things are passed away; behold, all things are become new."

Psalm 51:10

"Create in me a clean heart, O God; and renew a right spirit within me."

The Point:

A Heart of Flesh - Open to God’s Word and Sensitive to the Holy Spirit

This promise in Ezekiel 36:26 is both profound and rare. It is not a common phrase in Scripture, yet it beautifully describes what happens when God revives and restores His people.

Ezekiel spoke these words during a dark season in Israel's history. The nation was under judgment, exiled because of their rebellion against God. Yet even in the midst of judgment, the Lord spoke words of hope. He promised deliverance, restoration, and most importantly, a transformed heart - not of stone, cold and unyielding, but of flesh, tender and responsive to Him.

Sin, both then and now, is a universal problem. It hardens the heart, making us resistant to God's voice and insensitive to His Spirit. Only God can perform the miracle of heart-change. King David, though called a man after God's own heart, still reached a place where he had to cry out: "Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me." (Psalm 51:10).

Like David, we need continual renewal. We must allow God to search our hearts. A revived heart will allow God to not only search, but also transform. When He takes away our stony heart and gives us a heart of flesh, we become tender to His Spirit, responsive to His Word, and ready for Him to do His work through us.

Illustration:

John Newton was once a hardened man. He worked on slave ships, lived in open rebellion against God, and was known for his cruelty. People described his heart as calloused and cold.

But one night, caught in a violent storm at sea, Newton cried out to God for mercy. That moment marked the beginning of his transformation. God softened his heart, eventually leading him to faith in Christ. Newton became a pastor, an abolitionist, and the author of the hymn "Amazing Grace."

The man who once had a heart of stone was given a heart of flesh - tender toward God and others. His story shows that no one is beyond God’s renewing power.

Reflection Questions:

• Has my heart turned cold and unresponsive to the Holy Spirit?
• Have I asked God to search my heart?
• Have I totally surrendered my life to God?