For two weeks, while Wendy and I are away enjoying some warm weather, I’ll be counting down the top ten chapter-a-day posts of 2024 (based on total views and plays). It’ s always interesting which posts resonated with readers and listeners. The chapter for tomorrow’s post will be listed at the bottom.

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.
Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV)

I got to bless a friend yesterday. A few weeks ago a mutual acquaintance told me how blown away he was by a conversation the two of them had. “Tom, the person I spoke with is not the same person I knew ten years ago. He’s changed!” It was a compliment of the highest order. One friend saw in the other friend the life transformation that happens when God’s Spirit indwells a willing heart. What a cool thing.

The life of John the Apostle is another wonderful story of transformation. When Jesus first meets the fisherman and his brother, they are brash men. When a village refused to let Jesus and His disciples into the town, John and his brother suggested to Jesus that He call down fire from heaven and burn the village and all the people in it. Jesus called the pair “The Sons of Thunder” for their quick, unbridled tempers.

A few years later, John is a different person. No longer “Son of Thunder,” John has become “the disciple Jesus’ loved.” That love had a transforming effect in John’s life. It is John that Jesus chooses to give the responsibility of caring for and loving His mother after His death. John’s letters repeat the importance of love over and over and over again. Late in life, the aged John reportedly said nothing but, “Little children, love one another” repeatedly.

In today’s chapter, Ezekiel’s vision, which began back in chapter nine, comes to a conclusion. Zeke, having seen God’s judgment and anger cries out and asks God if He is any of His people will survive. God responds with a promise that a remnant will survive. Exiles like Zeke will return to Jerusalem and Israel. God then gives Zeke a fascinating metaphor, telling the prophet that He will put a “new spirit” into them, “remove their heart of stone,” and “give them a heart of flesh.”

One of the powers of metaphor is that they are layered with meaning. The Hebrew people had spent 400 years in slavery in Egypt, and Egypt was a popular place to flee in times of trouble (e.g. Mary and Joseph took flight to Egypt with baby Jesus to avoid Herod’s wrath). So the beliefs and customs of Egypt were known.

The Egyptians believed that the heart was used to judge a dead person’s worthiness for the afterlife. During the mummification process, the heart would be literally weighed. A heavy heart, weighed down with guilt and shame, would not make the cut. Those who heard Zeke’s prophetic word, would have recognized that “a heart of stone” was not a good thing. To this day, we understand that a hard heart is a bad thing.

When God says He’ll remove the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, there is hope of a new life. It is a beautiful picture of the transformation that occurs in the life of Jesus’ disciples. Paul wrote that anyone who is in Christ is a “new creation.” Old things pass away and new things come. The rock-hard heart is replaced with a heart of flesh, pumping new Life into the person.

In the quiet this morning, I reflected on the transformation I’ve felt in my own life over the course of forty-plus years as a disciple. Like John, like my friend, I can look back at things I felt, things I did, and things I said and feel ashamed for all of it. I’m so grateful to God that my heart has increasingly softened and I don’t feel, act, or say the things like that any more. I pray that God continues my spiritual heart-replacement therapy as long as I am on this earthly journey. I never want God’s transforming work to end in me. Ten years from now I’d like to have someone say, “Tom’s not the person he was ten years ago! He’s changed.”

Tomorrow’s Chapter: Romans 8

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.

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.
Ezekiel 11:19 (NIV)

I got to bless a friend yesterday. A few weeks ago a mutual acquaintance told me how blown away he was by a conversation the two of them had. “Tom, the person I spoke with is not the same person I knew ten years ago. He’s changed!” It was a compliment of the highest order. One friend saw in the other friend the life transformation that happens when God’s Spirit indwells a willing heart. What a cool thing.

The life of John the Apostle is another wonderful story of transformation. When Jesus first meets the fisherman and his brother, they are brash men. When a village refused to let Jesus and His disciples into the town, John and his brother suggested to Jesus that He call down fire from heaven and burn the village and all the people in it. Jesus called the pair “The Sons of Thunder” for their quick, unbridled tempers.

A few years later, John is a different person. No longer “Son of Thunder,” John has become “the disciple Jesus’ loved.” That love had a transforming effect in John’s life. It is John that Jesus chooses to give the responsibility of caring for and loving His mother after His death. John’s letters repeat the importance of love over and over and over again. Late in life, the aged John reportedly said nothing but, “Little children, love one another” repeatedly.

In today’s chapter, Ezekiel’s vision, which began back in chapter nine, comes to a conclusion. Zeke, having seen God’s judgment and anger cries out and asks God if He is any of His people will survive. God responds with a promise that a remnant will survive. Exiles like Zeke will return to Jerusalem and Israel. God then gives Zeke a fascinating metaphor, telling the prophet that He will put a “new spirit” into them, “remove their heart of stone,” and “give them a heart of flesh.”

One of the powers of metaphor is that they are layered with meaning. The Hebrew people had spent 400 years in slavery in Egypt, and Egypt was a popular place to flee in times of trouble (e.g. Mary and Joseph took flight to Egypt with baby Jesus to avoid Herod’s wrath). So the beliefs and customs of Egypt were known.

The Egyptians believed that the heart was used to judge a dead person’s worthiness for the afterlife. During the mummification process, the heart would be literally weighed. A heavy heart, weighed down with guilt and shame, would not make the cut. Those who heard Zeke’s prophetic word, would have recognized that “a heart of stone” was not a good thing. To this day, we understand that a hard heart is a bad thing.

When God says He’ll remove the heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, there is hope of a new life. It is a beautiful picture of the transformation that occurs in the life of Jesus’ disciples. Paul wrote that anyone who is in Christ is a “new creation.” Old things pass away and new things come. The rock-hard heart is replaced with a heart of flesh, pumping new Life into the person.

In the quiet this morning, I reflected on the transformation I’ve felt in my own life over the course of forty-plus years as a disciple. Like John, like my friend, I can look back at things I felt, things I did, and things I said and feel ashamed for all of it. I’m so grateful to God that my heart has increasingly softened and I don’t feel, act, or say the things like that any more. I pray that God continues my spiritual heart-replacement therapy as long as I am on this earthly journey. I never want God’s transforming work to end in me. Ten years from now I’d like to have someone say, “Tom’s not the person he was ten years ago! He’s changed.”

If you know anyone who might be encouraged by today’s post, please share.