Necessary Ingredients
Then I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you will be clean. Your filth will be washed away, and you will no longer worship idols. And I will give you a new heart, and I will put a new spirit in you. I will take out your stony, stubborn heart and give you a tender, responsive heart. And I will put my Spirit in you so that you will follow my decrees and be careful to obey my regulations. Ezekiel 36:25-27
One of my newer pastimes since the pandemic began is cooking. To put it in perspective, I could only make a really good chili before. Now, my wife and family love my jambalaya and creamy blackened chicken pasta. The thing about it is that it has become relaxing for me. There is something about trying new ingredients that deviate from the original recipe, and ultimately, a tweak here or there makes all the difference.
This caused me to focus on my relationship with God, and it made me wonder what ingredients make it work. Obviously, He works, but what about me? Why does He desire a relationship with me? What makes me an important part of His Kingdom? This takes me back to my favorite story of Moses and the burning bush when he asked God, “Who am I to appear before Pharaoh? Who am I to lead the people of Israel out of Egypt?” (Exodus 3:11b) Who am I to be part of God’s great plan? As I humbled myself, the realization is God did not need me and yet still wanted me. On the other hand, I did not have to embrace God, and yet chose to accept Him as Lord over my life. The key ingredient is my heart. Without a heart for God, nothing really works. You don’t start with a heart for God any more than you start Jambalaya with the shrimp (FYI – that’s actually last). You must truly open your heart up for God to work within you. That means you take out some of the ingredients in the old you to make room for Him.
A heart for God is essential to a growing journey of faith. With it being Christmas time, we hear many of our favorite Christmas carols. This past Sunday at church, we sang ‘Joy To The World,’ and my mind stopped on the verse of the song saying, “Let every heart prepare Him room.” I paused because it hit me that you do not have an instant heart for God any more than you have love at first site (I know … starting a long debate with some of you here, but let’s keep focused on the task here!). When my wife and I first started dating, I did not know I would have to spend hours on the phone where she refused to let me get off the phone. But I had to prepare to adjust my priorities to make her happy. Being a father meant I had to prepare my children to become adults and oversee their children. Today’s verses are a prophecy of the coming of Christ. The concept of a new heart and new spirit requires us to change some things. We were not who we are when we first committed to God, and we are not who we will be years from now as God grows us to be who He needs us to be. Our ‘stony, stubborn heart’ does not flip to ‘a tender, responsive heart’ overnight. He prepares us through various trial and intentional opportunities to see His work on display. But this can only happen if we truly have a heart that is open to His correction.
Having a heart for God is about loving Him and His people. Someone told me you must love God and His law, and reminded me when Jesus said, “If you love me, obey my commandments.” (John 14:15) I agreed, and I added that you must love Him first. It is as plain as 1 Corinthians, which says, “If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal.” (1 Corinthians 13:1) A ‘tender, responsive’ heart will do what God needs, but we prepare ourselves to take His instruction and change our priorities. Let us continually work toward our being ready to receive what God places on our heart. What will you pray to God that requires His preparing you? What changes can you make to prepare room for God’s heart? My prayer is that we are receptive to God’s preparation providing us with all the necessary ingredients. Amen.