A New Heart Needed

When we start our walk with the Lord, the first thing we need to change is our heart. I’ve been teaching a lot on the heart during Sunday School, and while studying I read the excerpt below.

The actinic ray is that property of fire which works chemical change. It turns wood to ashes, tempers steel, and changes the color and form of objects which come in contact with it.

It is this property, in the rays of the sun, which transforms seeds into plants, buds into flowers, and grass into hay. It is the miracle ray which makes useless things useful through the process of change.

Like the calorific ray, it is also a physical symbol of God’s ability to do mightier things in the spiritual realm.

When a man comes in contact with God, he can never be the same again. This “fire” either draws or drives, saves or destroys, helps or hinders. Accepted and utilized, it becomes a boon and a blessing. Rejected, it becomes a bane and a curse. One dying thief was drawn to the warmth of the Savior; he responded and was saved. The other dying thief turned away and rejected God’s compassion; he was lost.

God takes the weak and makes them strong. He takes the vile and makes them clean. He takes the worthless and makes them worthwhile. He takes the sinful and makes them sinless.

With this in mind, Ezekiel said, “Thus saith the Lord GOD...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)

Once our heart is in the right place, God can molds us into what He wants us to be. We cannot be molded if we have an impenetrable “stony heart.” This can only be done if we have a “heart of flesh” that allows God’s word and love to penetrate our hearts and guide our lives.