A 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)

A story appeared several years ago (Jan. 7, 1986) in the Dallas Morning News of a 14-year-old girl named Donna Ashlock, who lived in Patterson, CA. She was a bright girl, very popular in school, athletic in nature, with a charming personality. But there was one thing wrong with Donna Ashlock. She had a very diseased heart.

The doctors decided that a heart transplant was the only thing that could save her life. And if there was no heart available to transplant, she would probably die. The story gets more involved. There was a 15-year-old boy by the name of Felipe Garza who fell head over heels in love with Donna. He loved the way she looked. He loved the way she talked. For a long time he just sort of swooned every time she walked by.

One day he heard that she might die, and he told his parents that he wished that he could take his heart out and put it in Donna so that she would live, even though it meant that he would die. The story goes on. One day Felipe Garza, the picture of health, had a blood vessel rupture in his brain, leaving him brain dead, but all of his organs healthy. In their grief, his parents decided to give his organs away.

Among the organs that were donated was his heart, and it now beats inside the body of Donna Ashlock. His parents said, "He gave his heart to his girlfriend. I know that is what he wanted to do. The way we look at it he gave her his heart twice, and both times he really meant it."

Ezekiel tells us in chapter 36 of God’s promise to restore Judah to Its rightful place of prominence. Judah’s neighboring nations devoured the Lord’s people, and God pledged to restore and vindicate his people. The pagan nations possessed Judah’s land and devoured its inhabitants. Yet God, in his holy jealousy, swore that he would bring shame upon the nations and restore Judah to her former glory. Despite her sin, God will revive Judah. God will gather them and bless them for the sake of his own glory. He will cleanse them from their sins (v. 25), give them a new heart (v. 26), place his Spirit within them (v. 27-28), deliver them from their uncleanness ( v. 29-32), and reverse the desolation of the land (v. 33-38).

What I love about this text is the picture of God giving them a new heart. As he has done for Judah he has also done for his new creation, the church. He has removed our stone heart and replaced it with one that reveals his incredible love for us. Just as God restored Israel for the sake of His holy name, He has redeemed us with precious blood for the sake of His holy name.

The Lord has given us a “new heart” and a “new spirit” so that we might walk in newness of life. His Spirit we receive at conversion enables us to follow His leading in our lives through the application of His Word. In essence, our every step is to be an indicator of His control over us. We are the exclusive ownership of a new Master, our Lord Jesus Christ.

Why would God take such drastic, bloody action to restore us to a right relationship with Him? 2 Corinthians 5:15 says we have been given a new heart so that “we should live no longer for ourselves, but for Him who died and rose again on our behalf.” We live for the sake of Christ. We love others for the sake of Christ. We grow to spiritual maturity for the sake of Christ. I don’t know about you but that sure makes me thankful for my “new heart.”

Dr. Derek