I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. I will put my spirit within you so that you walk in my statutes, observe my ordinances, and keep them. (Ezekiel 36:26-27 NABRE)
God’s initiative to cleanse Israel is the first act in the creation of a new people, no longer disposed to repeating Israel’s wicked past. To make this restoration permanent, God replaces Israel’s rebellious and obdurate interiority (“heart of stone”) with an interiority (“heart of flesh”) susceptible to and animated by God’s intentions (“my spirit”).*
The prophet Jeremiah puts it this way, "But this is the covenant I will make with the house of Israel after those days—oracle of the LORD. I will place my law within them, and write it upon their hearts; I will be their God, and they shall be my people." (Jeremiah 31:33)
Saint Paul puts it this way, "For those who live according to the flesh are concerned with the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the spirit with the things of the spirit. The concern of the flesh is death, but the concern of the spirit is life and peace." (Romans 8:5-6)
God has changed us for the better! Through the years, we can see it's been said many ways, but in the end the message is simple, God has given us his own Spirit to live personally with us so that we have guidance and strength to live as he wants us to live.
Today, I will thank the Spirit of God for his constant presence within me.
Saint Louis of Toulouse, who was known to repeat, "Jesus Christ is all my riches; he alone is sufficient for me," pray for us.
There are just 27 days remaining in this shared prayer journey of ours. Please continue to join your prayers with mine here, for a daily minute of reflection. As Jesus said, "For where two or three are gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them." (Matthew 18:20) Though we gather together online, may our joining here reflect our deep desire to have Jesus in our midst.
No comments:
Post a Comment