About that new heart

Dear God, this is Kelley.

Standing in front of You isn’t a cake-walk. It’s difficult. It’s maddening. Standing in front of You means all the lies I’ve tried to accept, all the lies I’ve allowed to come in and take residence up within my mind, all these start vibrating at high speed! They get hot, and they begin to bother me. They bother me, because they bother You, You who are truth itself.

It’s like judgment day, I guess. We come before You with all this garbage stuck to us — our failures we won’t let go of, the wounds others inflicted we won’t forgive, the consequences of those wounds we refuse to let heal, and the mindsets we won’t let You touch. Sure, You promise that new heart …

 I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. (Ezekiel 36:26)

… but You can’t give to us what we won’t receive.

Oh, God, help us to come before You and stay before You. May we choose to use the grace You offer. May we want that new heart just that badly.

Reflection

Take a moment to imagine what allowing God to remove your stony heart could mean in your life right now.

Prayer

Dear God, I have tons of ways to stop Your grace! I know how to stick with the lies I’ve become comfortable with. I think I know how hard it will be to live the truth (but I really don’t because I haven’t accepted the grace You offer, grace that will make it much easier!). Encourage me, God! May I find it in myself to let You peel away these lies. Amen.