Spurgeon: August PM
* 08/15/PM
"And I will give you an heart of flesh."
--Ezekiel 36:26
A heart of flesh is known by its tenderness concerning sin .
To have indulged a foul imagination, or to have allowed a wild
desire to tarry even for a moment, is quite enough to make a
heart of flesh grieve before the Lord. The heart of stone calls
a great iniquity nothing, but not so the heart of flesh.
"If to the right or left I stray,
That moment, Lord, reprove;
And let me weep my life away,
For having grieved thy love"
The heart of flesh is tender of God's will . My Lord
Will-be-will is a great blusterer, and it is hard to subject him
to God's will; but when the heart of flesh is given, the will
quivers like an aspen leaf in every breath of heaven, and bows
like an osier in every breeze of God's Spirit. The natural will
is cold, hard iron, which is not to be hammered into form, but
the renewed will, like molten metal, is soon moulded by the hand
of grace. In the fleshy heart there is a tenderness of the
affections . The hard heart does not love the Redeemer, but the
renewed heart burns with affection towards Him. The hard heart
is selfish and coldly demands, "Why should I weep for sin? Why
should I love the Lord?" But the heart of flesh says; "Lord,
Thou knowest that I love Thee; help me to love Thee more!" Many
are the privileges of this renewed heart; "'Tis here the Spirit
dwells, 'tis here that Jesus rests." It is fitted to receive
every spiritual blessing, and every blessing comes to it. It is
prepared to yield every heavenly fruit to the honour and praise
of God, and therefore the Lord delights in it. A tender heart is
the best defence against sin, and the best preparation for
heaven. A renewed heart stands on its watchtower looking for the
coming of the Lord Jesus. Have you this heart of flesh?