Cast away from you all the transgressions which you have committed, and get yourselves a new heart and a new spirit. ~ Ezekiel 18:31
God’s care for us knows no bounds, and there is no one more committed to our individual success than the God who created us. However, it is our transgressions, or sins, that put a breach between God and us. Unless we can cast them away, our hearts will become hard:
But exhort one another daily, while it is called “Today,” lest any of you be hardened through the deceitfulness of sin. ~ Hebrews 3:13
It’s over long periods of time that sin does its greatest damage. Our hearts do not become hard overnight. We don’t fall away from relationship with God after committing one or two sins. It’s the lifestyle of willful sin that drives us away from the Kingdom of God.
Still, the love of God compels us back to Him, but His grace has requirements:
Let us lay aside every weight, and the sin which so easily ensnares us, and let us run with endurance the race that is set before us. ~ Hebrews 12:1
As God said to Ezekiel, we are to “get ourselves a new heart and a new spirit.” In a sense, casting away a lifestyle of sin is much like being “born again” again! You are casting aside the life you were living and you’re seeking a new heart and a new spirit which should lead to a new life in God.
A new heart and a new spirit speaks of our inner man and its need for renewal. God is always ready to pour out His Spirit for a heart that’s ready for Him.
