The Heart Swap

I will take away your stubborn heart and give you a new heart and a desire to be faithful. You will have only pure thoughts, because I will put my Spirit in you and make you eager to obey my laws and teachings.

Ezekiel 36:26–27 (CEV)

Is someone making your life miserable? Maybe a bully or maybe even someone you love but just can’t seem to get along with? Do you just wish it could all change?

You have a taste, then, of what a man named Ezekiel was going through. He was a prophet—someone who carries messages from God to people. His people, the Israelites, were in rebellion against God, doing whatever they pleased. They had rejected the warnings of earlier prophets, and now everyone was being punished.

Ezekiel must have felt despair and hopelessness, thinking people will never change.

But God spoke to Ezekiel and showed him things of heaven, of God, and of the future. And God gave many hopeful promises to Ezekiel, including today’s verse.

We also get to experience the change God tells Ezekiel about. With Jesus’s help, people can receive a brand new heart and completely change. It’s the great heart swap! That bully, or that stubborn person, or even your own rebellious heart can turn in a new direction when Jesus comes in.

Don’t underestimate the power of faithful prayer for God to draw people near to him and change their hearts. When the hardest heart asks Jesus to come in, amazing things happen.

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

Who do you want to see change? Ask God to change them and give you courage to tell them about Jesus. Look at your heart, too. Are there areas that you could use God’s help to change? Talk to him about it. He is always there to help you.

PRAY

Lord Jesus, thank you for giving us the hope of change. Because of you, we can be made new!

KEEP IT GOING

Related passages: These additional verses will help you expand Scriptural knowledge and place on the armor of God’s Word to tackle each day. Please read...

Psalm 51:10

Jeremiah 24:7

Matthew 22:36–38

Hebrews 8:10