“I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stoney, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 NLT)
My daughter and I went to the art museum in Des Moines a few days ago. One particular piece snagged my heart; this Wounded Girl. She’s bronze, small, bandaged. Only the bandages have become one with her skin; the viewer cannot tell where the wrappings begin or end, they are her identity now.
This scripture brings the bronze girl to mind again. I think how we are wounded and we become small, stoney to the world for survival’s sake. We grow so accustomed to our bandages that they become our sole identity, we’ve forgotten who lies beneath.
The Lord has plan for our woundedness and it’s clearly laid out in Ezekiel 36:26-27.
We cannot create our own new heart. It is a gift from God. He alone changes our nature. He does holy surgery on our innermost being. We can cooperate under His scalpel, but the surgery itself is miraculous.
Sin has turned our heart to stone. Our own sin or the sins of others, self-reliance or self-protection: the affect is the same. Our heart has hardened and shrunk, beating just enough to keep us alive, but certainly not enough to allow us to thrive. This is why it is so terribly frightening to be vulnerable, to take risks and invite others in. Our hearts are boarded up tight for survival’s sake.
We were originally designed with a tender, responsive heart. Imagine with me, what life was like in the Garden: physical and relationally safe. No risk. No terror. No clash or wills and conflict. Only love and beauty; as much as the heart could hold. God longs for us to return to that level of living with Him, with others. That’s the Home we are growing toward. And in order to truly experience such a place, we are in need of a tender, responsive heart again.
He gives a new Spirit, too. It’s His Spirit that gives us the ability to live out His commands, especially the tough ones like “Love one another as I have loved you.” and “Forgive them of their trespasses as I forgive you.” These instructions are impossible to live out apart from the Spirit of God in us. Our flesh is far too stubborn until we’ve learned to surrender it to the inhabitation of the Spirit. When we can finally wave that white flag, the transformation of our heart and soul are hurried along. The more we allow the Spirit free reign in us, the more we begin to think and act and walk and talk like Christ.
“And the Lord, who is the Spirit – makes us more and more like Him as we are changed into His glorious image.” (2 Corinthians 3:18 NLT)
So what about us? Have we scheduled a surgical consult with the Head of the heart department? Have we yet had the courage to confront the reality of our stony, stubborn mass in our chest? Maybe we used to be more open, more tender and responsive, perhaps other people’s sin has closed up our heart like a venus fly trap? Maybe we’ve been so deeply wounded that we’ve become afraid to love again, afraid to even ask for the heart of flesh we were designed to live with?
Lord, help us. We don’t want to live as this cold, hard, shrunken version of ourselves. We surrender today to Your surgery. Breathe Your Spirit anew on us. Give us the strength to obey Your commands. Equip us to live in the Garden of God again. Amen.