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. Ezekiel 36:26 NLT
When you work in the garden, it’s important to remove items that will hamper the growth of the plant. I knew someone who bought a house and there was a patch of lawn in the front yard. She watered the lawn faithfully and gave it fertilizer but the lawn continued to turn brown. Eventually, she had to change the grass. This time she got fresh sod to start the lawn, but the results were the same. So she decided to dig up the yard. What she found surprised her. The builders used the yard as a place to dispose of garbage. Then they covered the garbage with soil and carefully placed the sod. The garbage in the yard made the lawn impossible to grow.
When God was in the process of restoring His people, He was concerned about the condition of their hearts. He described their hearts as stony and stubborn. Stones are hard objects so a stony heart is hard. You cannot grow beautiful flowers in hard, compacted soil. Hard soil is a problem for the gardener because hard soil makes it difficult to absorb water. So hard soil will hamper root growth much like the lawn grass placed on garbage. When your heart is hard then it’s difficult for the Spirit of God to work in you and through you.
Is there hope for the hard heart? Yes, there is hope in God; He will give you a heart transplant. God will remove the debris that hardens the heart and replace the hard, stubborn heart with a tender, responsive heart. Deuteronomy 5:29 says, “Oh, that they would always have hearts like this, that they might fear me and obey all my commands!” A tender, responsive heart is obedient to the Lord. If you recognize that your heart is hard and disobedient, you need to take action. Don’t remain where you are. There is a song that says, “Change my heart oh God.” If you need change, go before God and let Him give you a tender responsive heart.
Thought for Today: Friend, God desires a tender, responsive heart.
Have a blessed day and walk in faith and victory.
Victory Walk 