"And I will give them one heart, and I will put a new spirit within you; and I will take the stony heart out of their flesh, and will give them an heart of flesh:
That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God."
Ezekiel 11:19-21
There are a lot of cool ideas here. The trade of stony hearts for hearts of flesh, the idea of the covenant between people and God, and the idea of getting our actions dumped back on our own heads.
These are all ways that God works with us... the stone-to-flesh hearts seems to be referring to how God helps us to stay sensitive to the spirit and not become "past feeling" (Ephesians 4:19, 1 Nephi 17:45).
The covenant to be people and God is similar... at least part of the agreement we all make with God is to allow him to guide us, and he agrees to guide us--it has to work both ways, as the old proverb about horses and water teaches us. No matter what our relationship to God is at the moment, we both play a part. No matter how much God speaks, we can't gain anything if we aren't listening. Being willing to follow does zero good if we don't have a leader. Everything we accomplish with God has to be both of us working together. We can't put it all on him, and he never puts it all on us.
In the end, what we get involves to a very great extent what we give. This is true in our relationship with God, but also our relationship with other people and our willingness to feel and use our hearts rather than turning them to stone. :)
Today, let's have hearts of flesh, keep God's ordinances and our side of the agreement with God, and make sure that when our ways come back on our heads that it is going to be a good thing. :) And if we aren't there yet, then let's remember the immense gift of repentance, and go back a few steps and with God's help, change stone to flesh again, and do it better this time. :)
That they may walk in my statutes, and keep mine ordinances, and do them: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God.
But as for them whose heart walketh after the heart of their detestable things and their abominations, I will recompense their way upon their own heads, saith the Lord God."
Ezekiel 11:19-21
There are a lot of cool ideas here. The trade of stony hearts for hearts of flesh, the idea of the covenant between people and God, and the idea of getting our actions dumped back on our own heads.
These are all ways that God works with us... the stone-to-flesh hearts seems to be referring to how God helps us to stay sensitive to the spirit and not become "past feeling" (Ephesians 4:19, 1 Nephi 17:45).
The covenant to be people and God is similar... at least part of the agreement we all make with God is to allow him to guide us, and he agrees to guide us--it has to work both ways, as the old proverb about horses and water teaches us. No matter what our relationship to God is at the moment, we both play a part. No matter how much God speaks, we can't gain anything if we aren't listening. Being willing to follow does zero good if we don't have a leader. Everything we accomplish with God has to be both of us working together. We can't put it all on him, and he never puts it all on us.
In the end, what we get involves to a very great extent what we give. This is true in our relationship with God, but also our relationship with other people and our willingness to feel and use our hearts rather than turning them to stone. :)
Today, let's have hearts of flesh, keep God's ordinances and our side of the agreement with God, and make sure that when our ways come back on our heads that it is going to be a good thing. :) And if we aren't there yet, then let's remember the immense gift of repentance, and go back a few steps and with God's help, change stone to flesh again, and do it better this time. :)
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