HEART OF STONE

My latest treasures from God on my daily prayer walks have been physical hearts made of stones or blacktop.  God reveals His great love for me with the heart theme that has been ongoing in my life since mid-December.  I am in awe of Him, and how He directs my footsteps to find these reminders of His love.  I have a collection of seven hearts that He blessed me with this week.  Different thoughts will come to me when I discover one of these hearts.

When I picked up the first stone, “walk in love” came to mind.  The second stone made me smile, as it could be the “big brother” of the first one.  When I found the third heart stone, I thought how special that I now had the Trinity, —the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit.  Yes, they all walk with me.

 

 

 

When I saw the fourth stone, I was overwhelmed with God’s love.  How could this stone with a heart image so perfectly engrained in it, with the heart facing up, be in my path?  It was by a fence near my church.  It is unique as there is a slit and a fossil imprint on the top right.  How did this stone get there all of a sudden?  How old is it?  It is a path I walk every day and is not near any body of water.

 

 

Seeing this fourth stone, the phrase “heart of stone” from the Bible came to mind.  I immediately prayed for the Lord to soften my heart and for those I know who do not believe in God.

I will give them an undivided heart and put a new spirit in them; I will remove from them their heart of stone and give them a heart of flesh.  Then they will follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. They will be my people, and I will be their God.  –Ezekiel 11:19-20  (NIV)

I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws.  Then you will live in the land I gave your ancestors; you will be my people, and I will be your God.  –Ezekiel 36:26-28  (NIV)

 

Both sets of these verses share what God is speaking about the promised return of Israel.  Being driven from Jerusalem, the Israelites became exiles.  God became their sanctuary, present with them.  They were scattered among different nations, but God promised to bring them back to their land.  The people would return to God after relinquishing the idols they were worshipping.  I believe this message was one of great importance and encouragement to the Israelites since God repeated the same message twice.  Notice in the second set, God makes it more personal for them, saying “you.”

 

I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. 

 

Photo courtesy of Rachel Titiriga under Creative Commons License (CC BY-NC-ND 2.0) 

 

What is a heart of stone versus a heart of flesh?

Then in the morning, when Nabal was sober, his wife told him all these things, and his heart failed him and he became like a stone.  –1 Samuel 25:37  (NIV)

 

–No love for God.

–Insensitive to God’s working.

–Sin is rampant.

–Moral insensitivity.

–Blind to the needs of others.

 

 

I will give them hearts that recognize me as the Lord. They will be my people, and I will be their God, for they will return to me wholeheartedly.  –Jeremiah 24:7  (NLT)

 

 

–Recognize God in their lives.

–Aware of shortcomings yet repents.

–Inner spiritual and moral transformation takes place.

–Single-minded commitment to the Lord and to His will.

–A softened, teachable heart.

–Following the Holy Spirit’s leading.

–Sees the needs of others and acts on them.

 

May you be encouraged this week to…

–pursue God with an undivided heart.

–ask God to remove the areas of your heart made of stone.

–work on increasing the areas of your heart of flesh.

–seek God’s new spirit of transformation.

–know God is with you and helping you.

–follow God’s laws, especially the greatest law of love.

–pray for your own heart.

–pray for the hearts of others.

 

Rid yourselves of all the offenses you have committed, and get a new heart and a new spirit. Why will you die, people of Israel?  –Ezekiel 18:31  (NIV)