A New Heart

by Susan Sampson

God made His covenant with Abram.  Abram was asleep and the Lord alone cut the covenant.  Abram did nothing.  He had been an idolator like all the rest of us.  God mercifully chose Abram as He chose each of us. It is God who has to work first.  This is His covenant with us.  In Ezekiel we see one of the most amazing promises in all of Scripture: “And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you.  And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh.  And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules” (Ezek. 36:26-27).

I’m reminded of my recent shoulder surgery.  Just like Abram was asleep as the Lord cut the covenant, I was asleep as the surgeon removed the scar tissue from my shoulder.  This calloused tissue was preventing me from having full range of motion with my arm.  No matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t lift my right arm as high as my left.

The Lord is the Great Physician and He does the very same thing.  “And the Lord your God will circumcise your heart and the heart of your offspring, so that you will love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, that you may live” (Deut. 30:6).