Ezekiel 36:26-28 The Message
24-28 “‘For here’s what I’m going to do: I’m going to take you out of these countries, gather you from all over, and bring you back to your own land. I’ll pour pure water over you and scrub you clean. I’ll give you a new heart, put a new spirit in you. I’ll remove the stone heart from your body and replace it with a heart that’s God-willed, not self-willed. I’ll put my Spirit in you and make it possible for you to do what I tell you and live by my commands. You’ll once again live in the land I gave your ancestors. You’ll be my people! I’ll be your God!
The Word of God for the Children of God.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Our passage from Ezekiel speaks comforting words.
Here the Sovereign Lord promises to use his people to declare his holiness among the nations.
But the question is: were the people of Israel up to this most difficult task?
Already in Egypt we have seen their repeated hesitation to follow God.
They grumbled and complained, twisting and turning against God’s will, refusing to trust him.
And then once they established their home in the promised land, their disobedience spiraled out of control – read the book of Judges.
We these words for ourselves and we wonder if it was even going to be possible for the people of Israel, on their own, reveal the holiness, righteousness of God.
And TBT, the sad fact was that it was completely impossible for them to do so.
But in this passage, as well as others sprinkled throughout Ezekiel and the other prophets, we will find God’s own promise to bolster the hearts, minds, and wills of his people by putting His Spirit in them.
He promises to cleanse them from their impurities and give them a new heart.
To take hearts of the hardest stone and create in them a heart of flesh for God.
God himself, through the Holy Spirit, makes his people a witness to the nations.
Just as the people of ancient Israel fell short in following God, so each one of us struggles to be holy – our hearts are no less than theirs – made of hardest rock.
When a Child Smiles Your Heart Grows Three Sizes
In Dr. Seuss’s classic Christmas tale, How the Grinch Stole Christmas, the Grinch suffers from having a small heart.
The source of his heart problem is his severely negative outlook on life, an absence of feeling joy clear, a lack of understanding the meaning of Christmas.
Only the very most negative feelings give him the greatest satisfactions in life.
Anything that might bring even 1% joy or happiness is to be immediately gone.
As the story goes, the Grinch tries to put a stop to Christmas, but in the end, as a little child smiles at him, he comes to understand what Christmas is all about, his heart grows three sizes! This heart change makes a big difference in his life.
I’m not very sure what Dr. Seuss’ intentions were when he wrote the story back in 1957, it was a few years before I was born, but it certainly comes across as a Christian parable to me that parallels the change that takes place in a person’s life when he or she comes to understand the true meaning of Christmas: the birth of Immanuel, God’s only Son, was born to save His people from their sins. (Matthew 1:21)
Matthew 1:20-23 The Message
20-23 While he was trying to figure a way out, he had a dream. God’s angel spoke in the dream: “Joseph, son of David, don’t hesitate to get married. Mary’s pregnancy is Spirit-conceived. God’s Holy Spirit has made her pregnant. She will bring a son to birth, and when she does, you, Joseph, will name him Jesus—‘God saves’—because he will save his people from their sins.” This would bring the prophet’s embryonic revelation to full term:
Watch for this—a virgin will get pregnant and bear a son;
They will name him Immanuel (Hebrew for “God is with us”).
When the light of the Good News of Jesus dawns upon the heart of a person, God replaces the heart of stone, with a new, fleshy heart – a new person emerges.
As the Apostle Paul wrote, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation, the old has gone, the new has come!” (2 Corinthians 5:17)
“Welcome Christmas – While we stand – Heart to heart – And hand in hand.”
It might just make all the difference in the world.
Holy Child of Bethlehem,
Descend to us, we pray;
Cast out our sin and enter in;
Be born in us today!
We hear the Christmas angels
The great glad tidings tell;
O come to us, abide with us,
Our Lord Emmanuel!
(from O Little Town of Bethlehem)
We celebrate the real meaning of Christmas because of the power Jesus brought to change our hearts-the power of a child to smile at us, to melt our cold hearts.
Going Deeper with God and your families, your friends, your neighbors too:
- Give an example of a time when you changed your mind about something.
- How did the words or actions of others influence your change of heart?
- Towards the end of the story “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” what happened that caused the Grinch to change his mind about Christmas? What lessons might we learn from the story?
- How has understanding the true meaning of Christmas made a difference in your life?
Even more Quality Family Time:
Gather your family together and watch the classic half-hour Christmas cartoon, How the Grinch Stole Christmas.
Then, using the content above, pick up your bibles and lead your family in a devotional discussion about how Jesus has the power to change our hearts.
Pray the Spirit into your family time,
Emmanuel
Emmanuel, Emmanuel,
His name is called Emmanuel
God with us, revealed in us
His name is called Emmanuel
We love Him so, we love Him so,
His name is called Emmanuel
Author(s): Bob McGee
Copyright:
1976 C.A. Music (Admin. by Music Services, Inc.)
Call on the Holy Spirit today and ask Him to fill you, your family, friends and neighbors’ hearts so that you can be holy and reflect his holiness in his world.
He will turn hearts of hardest stone into a heart of truest love and goodness.
In the name of God, the Father and God the Son and God the Holy Spirit,
Let us Pray,
Lord, I thank you for all you’ve done for me. I just pray that you would change me, oh God. Please guide my heart, from stone to flesh, and help me to grow into the person you want me to be. Rather than me following my own ways, please purify my heart and make me more like you. Please guide my path and help me take steps that will guide me toward your plan for my life and not my own whims. In Jesus’ name I pray.
Glory be to the Father,
and to the Son, and to the Holy Ghost;
as it was in the beginning,
is now, and ever shall be,
world without end. Amen, amen.
Loving God, Living God, Loving Hope, Living Hope, Loving Living Life His Way! "Many things are possible for the person who has hope. Even more is possible for the person who has faith. And still more is possible for the person who knows how to love. But everything is possible for the person who practices all three virtues." - Brother Lawrence (1605-1691), Practicing the Presence of God (1692). 