Heart Transplant

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)

Everywhere we look, people seem determined to rebel. They lie, cheat the system, look out only for themselves, fight, and bully others. The list of rebellious deeds goes on!

What’s a Christian to do in all of this? Well, we can take a few tips from Ezekiel. God called him to be a prophet to his people, the Israelites. A prophet carries messages from God to people, telling them the things God wants them to know. The Israelites had rebelled so much that their punishment had cost them their country. Another nation took control over them and carried away their best people, including Ezekiel.

As he prayed to God, he was given visions of what heaven and the future would look like. God spoke of a time when he would change the hearts of the people and give them his Spirit. The Spirit would give them the desire to do what God wants.

Today’s world can feel like Israel during Ezekiel’s time. But just as God wanted them to obey him, we are called to do likewise and live differently than the rest of the world. Because of Jesus, we can have new hearts and have the Holy Spirit lead our lives.

We can also pray for that to happen for others—those wrapped up in ungodly lives. The hardest heart, the most rebellious sinner, can be transformed into a new person by the power of Jesus. When anyone believes Jesus is the Son of God and repents of their sin, they can be made brand new.

SPIRITUAL FITNESS TRAINING

Who are you praying for to receive a “heart transplant”? Keep praying! You can pray for anyone, even someone you know who lives on the other side of the world. Pray for them every day this week!

INSPIRATION

“There is a God shaped vacuum in the heart of every man which cannot be filled by any created thing, but only by God, the Creator, made known through Jesus.”

–Blaise Pascal, French mathematician and Catholic writer

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. Swipe to read the passages today.

Psalms 51:10

Jeremiah 24:7

Matthew 22:36–38

Hebrews 8:10