"Wo unto the uncircumcised of heart, for a knowledge of their iniquities shall smite them at the last day."
2 Nephi 9:33
This struck me as strange today kind of. I know that circumcision is symbolic in the scriptures of a covenant between God and his people, but then in the New Testament it says that circumcision and uncircumcision don't matter... it is having love, becoming a new person that matters.
I looked it up, and it is applied to the heart (as in this verse), to lips, and ears, and spirits... and I'm thinking that the overall symbolic meaning of uncircumcised in the scriptures is unholy... not dedicated to the Lord. Maybe along the same lines as the idea of natural man vs. spiritual man... what is the difference?
I think it is us, taming ourselves in a way. Resisting the urges of the natural man, and letting the spiritual man have control... channeling needs and desires in righteous ways. And we can definitely do that with our hearts.
Our hearts are all over the place sometimes... chasing some nice looking person down the street... getting too wrapped up emotionally in things where we need to step back and be objective. Venting that excess emotion in a good way and being able to do the right thing anyway... that is having a heart dedicated to God. Same with lips and ears, and spirits. We have to "bridle" our passions as it says... and what we say, listen to, and believe in need to be tempered as well. God asks us for a broken heart, and I think that is part of it. We're not pure, and we need to purify ourselves, little by little, getting rid of the bad and keeping the good. In our society we hear "follow your heart" pretty often. But perhaps we just need to follow God, and he'll teach us how to cleanse our hearts.
2 Nephi 9:33
This struck me as strange today kind of. I know that circumcision is symbolic in the scriptures of a covenant between God and his people, but then in the New Testament it says that circumcision and uncircumcision don't matter... it is having love, becoming a new person that matters.
I looked it up, and it is applied to the heart (as in this verse), to lips, and ears, and spirits... and I'm thinking that the overall symbolic meaning of uncircumcised in the scriptures is unholy... not dedicated to the Lord. Maybe along the same lines as the idea of natural man vs. spiritual man... what is the difference?
I think it is us, taming ourselves in a way. Resisting the urges of the natural man, and letting the spiritual man have control... channeling needs and desires in righteous ways. And we can definitely do that with our hearts.
Our hearts are all over the place sometimes... chasing some nice looking person down the street... getting too wrapped up emotionally in things where we need to step back and be objective. Venting that excess emotion in a good way and being able to do the right thing anyway... that is having a heart dedicated to God. Same with lips and ears, and spirits. We have to "bridle" our passions as it says... and what we say, listen to, and believe in need to be tempered as well. God asks us for a broken heart, and I think that is part of it. We're not pure, and we need to purify ourselves, little by little, getting rid of the bad and keeping the good. In our society we hear "follow your heart" pretty often. But perhaps we just need to follow God, and he'll teach us how to cleanse our hearts.
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