Ezekiel 36:26

"A new heart also will I give you, and a new spirit will I put within you: and I will take away the stony heart out of your flesh, and I will give you an heart of flesh." Ezekiel 36:26

I just learned a new truth about this Scripture that I wanted to post it and share it so I could come back and be reminded too. I love the Hebrew language ... you don't have to be a scholar in the Hebrew and Greek, but if you can find a tool to look at the original language of the Bible sometimes it will unlock a beautiful picture for you. For me that tool is http://www.blueletterbible.org/index.cfm.

Check this out ... this is what I learned ...

He will take out the stony heart (the one we want to get rid of) and in Hebrew this is אבן 'eben and it means a stone of any kind, rough or polished used for building or to make tablets perhaps like the commandments were written on. The metaphor here is that stone is stiff or hard.

What does God want to give us? A heart of flesh בשר basar. Here is the picture. We often read that and think only on the surface "hard verses soft", right? But there is so much more if you go one step deeper to the root with the same spelling Strong's H1319 - basar which means "to bear news, bear tidings, publish, preach, show forth" or to "to announce (salvation) as good news". Are you starting to see it? To take it further, according to Gesenius it means to be joyful, cheerful especially in receiving glad tidings. The primary sense being that of beauty, the beauty that someone exudes when they are joyful and cheerful as opposed to the face of a cross and angry person or "hard" or "hard-hearted" person.

This is what we want folks! A glad heart bringing the good news or gospel of salvation to all we come in contact whether they are 4 months old, 4 years old, 14 years old, 40 or more ... to every child, adolescent or adult we meet we should be wearing our proverbial "hearts on our sleeves". We want to be messengers of good news ...

LORD take away the stony hearts and give us hearts that bring for your good news of salvation. Beautiful, joyful, cheerful hearts ~ hearts of flesh!

Put your Spirit in us and cause us to walk in the ways you have inscribed in us. Save us from all uncleannesses ~ anything that would keep us from serving you. Build the ruined [places, and] plant that which is desolate. You are LORD!

Amen & Amen

"... Your word was to me the joy and rejoicing of my heart ..." Jeremiah 15:16