Day by Day

[Soldier4Christ]

"What Church Bells Say"

Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker. Psalm 95:6
   

In this writer's boyhood in rural Nebraska it was customary to ring the church bell when a member died. The number of strokes would then give the person's age. On the day of the interment the bell was solemnly tolled as the horse-drawn hearse approached the church. The appropriate words of poet John Donne are often quoted, "Never send to ask for whom the bell tolls; it tolls for thee."

At other times church bells announce glad tidings. Henry W. Longfellow states this in the song "I Heard the Bells on Christmas Day." He said this about the belfries of Christendom as if to say to unbelievers: "Then pealed the bells more loud and deep: God is not dead, nor doth He sleep; The wrong shall fail, the right prevail, With peace on earth; good will to men." The poet does not expressly say so, but the hoped-for-peace--the peace with God--comes only to those who believe that "God made Him [Christ] who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in Him we might become the righteousness of God" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Church bells invite us to come to the house of God and to worship Him there. They recite, as it were, the words of the Psalter: "Come, let us bow down in worship, let us kneel before the LORD our Maker; for He is our God and we are the people of His pasture, the flock under His care" (Psalm 95:6-7). Again: "Enter His gates with thanksgiving and His courts with praise" (Psalm 100:4). When we carry out what the church bells invite us to do, we will receive the blessings of God in rich measure. Then the hymn verse will come to us on our homeward way: "From Your house when I return, May my heart within me burn, And at evening let me say, 'I have walked with God today.'"

[Soldier4Christ]

"The Test of Faith"

"Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted." Matthew 15:28
   

Tests are quite common. Commercial products, especially medications, are tested before they are released to the public. People, too, are tested. They must pass driver's license tests, physical exams, Scholastic Aptitude Tests, and the like.

God, too, gives tests. He subjected Abraham's faith to a severe test when He told him to sacrifice Isaac, the son of promise. Jesus was tested three times in the wilderness, but by the devil. As a teacher, He gave an oral test to Philip when He asked, "Where shall we buy bread for these people to eat?" (John 6:5). We are expressly told, "He asked this only to test him, for He already had in mind what He was going to do" (John 6:6). Jesus tested the faith of the Canaanite mother when for a while He seemingly ignored her pleas for her demon-possessed daughter. She passed the test with flying colors, for Jesus said, "Woman, you have great faith! Your request is granted" (Matthew 15:28).

We know that there are also tests of temptation for evil, and these originate with Satan, as did Jesus' temptations in the desert. Also the world--other people--can be the source. Job was tempted to commit suicide when his wife said to him, "Curse God and die" (Job 2:9). Judas Iscariot was tempted by his own inward sin, his greed, when he stole from the disciples' treasury and when, in the end, he betrayed Jesus for 30 pieces of silver. Satan was in on this, too.

What shall we do when tests of faith come to us? We do what Jesus did: adhere to the Word of God. We seek to grow stronger in our faith by frequent participation in the Lord's Supper. God gives us strength when we ask Him for it. We recall that Jesus overcame His agony in the Garden of Gethsemane and went forth to Calvary's cross to give His life for our salvation, being strengthened by God through an angel. We become more frequent in prayer, asking God to strengthen us. We apply ourselves to our work with diligence. Through these activities God will give us passing grades when He gives us His own SAT: Spiritual Aptitude Test.

[Soldier4Christ]

"God's Word as Witness"

"Whether they listen or fail to listen ... they will know that a prophet has been among them." Ezekiel 2:5
   

God at times calls on persons to undertake heavy tasks. Consider this assignment of Saint Paul: "This man is My chosen instrument to carry My name before the Gentiles and their kings and before the people of Israel. I will show him how much he must suffer for My name" (Acts 9:15-16). This is what God said of Saul to Ananias, who was to baptize him.

The prophet Ezekiel was called to a difficult and discouraging task. He was to preach repentance to Israel, a rebellious nation. Ezekiel was to know in advance that God's Word would be rejected. He might well have asked, "What's the use, Lord?" Ezekiel was to go and preach, the wall of unbelief notwithstanding. He was to do this for this reason: "They will know that a prophet has been among them" (Ezekiel 2:5).

The Lord, even today, sends His missionaries into the world, knowing full well, as these missionaries know, that many who hear God's word will reject it. Then why go and preach? Jesus said, "This Gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations" (Matthew 24:14). This is the witness God bears to all mankind: "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners" (1 Timothy 1:15). Some will harden their hearts in sullen unbelief. Yet God wants them to hear this message. Having heard it, they will never be able to fault God for not giving them the opportunity to hear the truth of the Gospel.

You may not be in Ezekiel's position as a prophet. You are in a calling, perhaps as a parent, spouse, family member, housewife, wage earner, or worker in many fields. To you it may seem that your work and words as a Christian witness are in vain. Should you quit? Not at all. You continue to be Christ's witness by word and deed. You keep on saying that Christ Jesus is the Son of God who died for all sinners and then rose again. Why do this? So people will know that a Christian witness has been among them.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Our Use of Time"

Teach us to number our days aright, that we may gain a heart of wisdom. Psalm 90:12
   

The people of this country have an average life span of 74.4 years. They spend 24 years in sleep and 13 years watching television.

Time is a precious gift of God. It is not given to us in the same measure or amount. Moses states, "The length of our days is seventy years--or eighty, if we have the strength" (Psalm 90:10). In His wisdom and love God determines a person's length of life. He graciously extended the life span of Moses to 120 years; he was needed during the critical times through which God's people passed. God, if He so desires, can extend a person's life even more. The risen Lord said to Peter concerning John: "If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?" (John 21:23).

Whether a person's life is long or short, the important thing is to use the time purposefully, that is, to the glory of God and to other people's good. The apostle Paul refers to this phase of Christian stewardship as "making the most of every opportunity" (Ephesians 5:16). He writes this because "the days are evil" (Ephesians 5:16). Evil days offer so many opportunities to waste time in sinful, sex-saturated movies and those that feature slaughterhouse-type violence.

It is good for Christians to say with the psalmist, "My times are in Your hands" (Psalm 31:15) and to join in singing: "Take my moments and my days, Let them flow in ceaseless praise." When we use our time for honest work, we are praising God with our deeds. Why serve God with our time? The eternal Son of God entered our time and world to redeem us, so that "we might receive the full rights" (Galatians 4:5) as God's sons and daughters who joyfully serve Him. These rights include the inheritance of eternal life.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Providing Things Honest"

Some people, eager for money, have wandered from the faith and pierced themselves with many griefs. 1 Timothy 6:10
   

We rightfully deplore house burglaries and street robberies by culprits carrying handguns. There are, however, also white-collar crimes committed in offices and boardrooms with different tolls: pens, computers, falsified records, and outright lies. In a recent year three-fourths of the 500 largest companies reported major corporate fraud.

Since, as Jesus said, all sins, including theft, proceed out of corrupt hearts, it makes little difference what clothes the perpetrators wear, where they work, what education they have, and what methods they use. Thieves are thieves.

In a parable Jesus speaks of a rich man's manager who, through fraud, had wasted the owner's possessions. When he was discovered, he continued his dishonesty to secure a future for himself. This was white-collar fraud committed in a business office. Dishonesty was also practiced in political offices in the way the publicans collected taxes for the Roman government. For that matter, "white-collar" thievery was practiced in Jesus' closest group where a called and ordained apostle, Judas Iscariot, stole from the treasury (see John 12:4-6).

It is a tribute to the transforming, heart-changing power of the Gospel when Christian men and women in business, government, and society as a whole "do what is right in the eyes of everybody" (Romans 12:17). God calls on all of us to be faithful and honest stewards in whatever situations He has placed us. To that end He has given us new hearts and minds so "that we may live peaceful and quiet lives in all godliness and holiness" (1 Timothy 2:2). It is also from the sin of greed, which is the basis for much dishonesty, that Jesus redeemed us. With our hearts set on the greater treasures of God's kingdom, we are enabled to fulfill our vocations honestly and thus glorify our Father in heaven.

[Soldier4Christ]

"When Plans Change"

During the night Paul had a vision of a man of Macedonia standing and begging him, "Come over to Macedonia and help us." Acts 16:9
   

On July 4, 1851, a railroad company began to lay track that was planned to run from St. Louis to the Pacific coast. It did not get any farther than the town of Pacific, 37 miles southwest of the starting point. Incompetence and corruption led to bankruptcy of the company and to a change in plans. It remained for another group to push on to Kansas City and beyond.

Quite often, changes in life's plans become necessary. The projected Tower of Babel was never finished. The Lord intervened because of the builders' pride. Jesus points out the folly of a man who laid the foundation for a tower which he could not complete because he had not first figured the cost. Similarly, Jesus points out, kings going forth to conquer must sometimes change their plans. Having underestimated the opponent's strength, they must ask for peace.

Changing one's plans is sometimes the better part of wisdom. God may intervene and put us on another road. During his second missionary journey Saint Paul, accompanied by Silas, intended to revisit the young churches in the Asia Minor provinces and to start new ones, "but the Spirit of Jesus would not allow them to" (Acts 16:7). All doors were closed, for God had other plans. At Troas, not far from Homer's Troy, Saint Paul had a night vision of a man asking him to "come over to Macedonia and help us" (Acts 16:9). In response, he and Silas left Asia Minor to be the first Christian missionaries in the continent of Europe.

Sometimes our best-laid plans go awry. We have to start over, asking God to help us to find the right path as we regroup. Amid all the changes in our world and in our lives, there is one constant: Our God is changeless. Jesus Christ is the same, today, yesterday, and forever. His Word abides forever. His saving love is today the same as it was when He walked the road to Mount Calvary to lay down His life for our salvation. This fact is the starting point when we must reroute our lives.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Strength and Weakness"

My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness. 2 Corinthians 12:9
   

It is not only the bite of a shark but also the sting of a jellyfish that can kill a person. People of physical strength can hurt others, but so can the physically weak when they tell lies, spread gossip, give wrong advice, write bad checks, steal.

But physical weakness can also have a constructive side. The apostle Paul at one time in his life had a debilitating "thorn in the flesh" (2 Corinthians 12:7), perhaps some kind of a physical ailment. But he nevertheless fulfilled his calling as Christ's witness. God gave him the promise: "My grace is sufficient for you, for My power is made perfect in weakness" (2 Corinthians 12:9).

Chapter 11 of the Hebrews epistle recalls the role of Old Testament saints who prevailed through their strong faith in the God of their salvation. It states their "weakness was turned to strength" (Hebrews 11:34).

A similar chapter of New Testament saints could be written. In the temple of Jerusalem, presumably aged and physically frail, Simeon and Anna confessed strong faith in the Christ Child and told others of Him. In Joppa a woman named Tabitha (Dorcas in Greek) earned the gratitude of the poor for the great work she did, not with a sharp sword, not with a sledgehammer, but with the needle as a seamstress. We go next to Ephesus, where toward the end of the first century we find the apostle John, close to a hundred years old and so weak he had to be carried to worship assemblies. Yet he served faithfully and effectively, telling people about God's love in Christ. Back in Jerusalem, little children in the temple, so young and frail that they are referred to as "babes and sucklings," sing praises to Christ.

The physically weak in today's Christendom can and do render effective service to Jesus Christ, their Savior. Unable to do heavy physical work or to be world travelers as missionaries, they can and do, as the hymn lines suggest, "tell the love of Jesus" and can "say He died for all."

[Soldier4Christ]

"Adding Loyalty to Love"

The memory of the righteous will be a blessing. Proverbs 10:7
   

Visitors at historic "Sunnyside" at Irvington, New York, home of Washington Irving, learn that he was not only a famous author but also a lawyer and foreign diplomat. "Sunnyside" never had a matron, for Martha Hoffman, to whom Irving was engaged, died before she was 18, and he remained a bachelor for the rest of his life. He did, however, carry her Bible with him wherever he traveled, at home or abroad. To love he added loyalty.

"The memory of the righteous will be a blessing" (Proverbs 10:7), states the holy writer. It is good to remember our benefactors, living or dead. Saint Paul writes to Timothy, "I have been reminded of your sincere faith, which first lived in your grandmother Lois and in your mother Eunice and, I am persuaded, now lives in you also" (2 Timothy 1:5). Spouses, parents, pastors, and teachers are among those who have been a blessing to us. The author of the epistle to the Hebrews states, "Remember your leaders, who spoke the Word of God to you. "Consider the outcome of their way of life and imitate their faith" (Hebrews 13:7).

Washington Irving did not have to live the 50 years alone after his fiancé's death. He could have married someone else. He chose, however, to show his loyalty by remaining single. He honored the memory of his hoped-for bride by treasuring her Bible. Our departed ones have undoubtedly left us things, great thoughts, examples, and we are thankful for this. The greatest treasure, humanly speaking, we can leave behind are children who walk in the ways of the Lord. Timothy was a blessing who honored the memory of Lois and Eunice.

Saint Paul goes on to tell Timothy, "Remember Jesus Christ, raised from the dead" (2 Timothy 2:. Jesus is our dearest Friend, for He bore all our sins and griefs. We honor our Savior when, to our love for Him, we add loyalty to His Word and continue in it steadfastly.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Letting God be God"

Since the creation of the world God's invisible qualities--His eternal power and divine nature--have been clearly seen. Romans 1:20
   

It is said that the Iroquois Indians were so impressed by the wonder of Niagara Falls that they worshiped it. French missionaries preached to them there, pointing out that the things in nature are the works of God, not God Himself. The ancient Greeks likewise blurred the distinction between Creator and creation, identifying the goddess Gaea with the earth. An echo of that error remains in the expression "Mother Earth," as though the earth, if not itself divine, at least has divine power. An even greater heresy, continuing to this day, is the belief that the human being is divine, either as part of God or as God Himself.

Saint Paul, who penetrated the pagan world, ran across many religious beliefs. In Lystra, when he healed a crippled man, the people shouted, "The gods have come down to us in human form" (Acts 14:11). They tried to identify Paul and Barnabas with Hermes and Zeus, respectively. The apostle would have none of this. He said, "We too are only men, human like you" (Acts 14:15). Then he proceeded to preach to them about "the living God, who made heaven and earth and the sea and everything in them" (Acts 14:15). This living God sent His Son into the world to teach and to lay down His life for the redemption of sinners.

In his epistle to the Romans Saint Paul points out that it is not only a sin but is already God's punishment when people, in their perversion of the truth, "worshiped and served created things rather than the Creator" (Romans 1:25). This is not letting God be God. This is the sin of rejecting the natural knowledge of God with which people are born and turning to creatures as idols.

Who is our God? What do we consider as our highest good? Is it gold or silver? Is it pleasure? Is it some human being? To fear, love, and trust in a created thing as though it were God is the master sin of idolatry. God wants us to keep the faith that He has revealed in Jesus Christ, His Son, through whose merit we have salvation.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Why Jesus Came"

The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many. Mark 10:45
   

Many come to Jesus, wanting to sit restfully and comfortably in His kingdom. But that was not what James and John had in mind when they said to Jesus: "Let one of us sit at Your right and the other at Your left in Your glory" (Mark 10:37). What they wanted was to sit with power and honor in Christ's government. According to Matthew's Gospel, their mother also made this request (Matthew 20:21).

That kind of ambition, Jesus said, was characteristic of pagan people as they jockey for position in state and society. Their preference is to be top person on the totem pole while others are cast in supporting roles. Our Lord reverses the order, saying: "Whoever wants to be first must be slave of all" (Mark 10:44).

The Savior does not ask anything of us that He Himself did not first perform, both as Exemplar and Enabler. He tells us, "The Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many" (Mark 10:45).

Through the ages people have asked: Why did Jesus Christ, the Son of God, come into this world? Was His mission one of social and political reform? Did He come to found a brotherhood on the basis of human love and justice? The answer is no. His was the role of the Servant who preferred others to Himself and who offered up His life on the cross for the redemption of all people. That is the Jesus in whom we believe and whom we serve.

The question occurs also to us as Christ's followers: Why are we here? Why has God created us? Why did Christ redeem us? Why did the Holy Spirit call us to faith through the Gospel? Surely that we, having been added to the family of God, might serve Him and serve one another.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Lives That Agree With Lips"

The LORD says: "These people come near to Me with their mouth and honor Me with their lips, but their hearts are far from Me." Isaiah 19:13
   

When a branch of the St. Louis public library was to be closed for lack of use, some 2,000 persons of the neighborhood signed their names to a petition to keep it open. It was found, however, that only about 10 percent of the signers had library cards.

What people do very often lags far behind of what they say. Performances fall short of promises. Ideals considered good for others are not fulfilled by those who plead for them.

The mouths of many are far more "obedient" than their hearts, the Lord said through the prophet Isaiah. Lips say yes, but their lives say no. This inconsistency was noted by Jesus. That is why in Matthew 15:8 He quoted this text when the Pharisees insisted on observing the man-made ceremonial law of hand-washing but left the true Word and will of God undone.

During the days of Jesus' final suffering, the fickleness, if not the perversity, of human nature became most clear. Where was Peter on Good Friday after he had so strongly affirmed his loyalty to Christ? When Jesus announced His final journey to Jerusalem, Thomas said to the other disciples, "Let us also go, that we may die with Him" (John 11:16). Noble words, yes, but where was he after our Lord's arrest in Gethsemane? And where was he when on Easter evening the risen Savior appeared to the ten disciples?

Jesus said to Pontius Pilate that His servants "would fight to prevent My arrest" (John 18:36) if His were an earthly kingdom. Apparently many had promised to stand by Him. But where were they now--those thousands who after the miraculous feeding were ready to crown Him a king?

Our Lord, who gave His life for us, is certainly pleased when, in thankfulness, we come near to Him and honor Him with our lips, as we do in this devotion. It pleases Him above all if our declared loyalty passes from hearts to mouths, from lips to lives lived for Him. Then we are in harmony not only with ourselves but also with Him.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Jesus, the True Christ"

Do not believe every spirit, but test the spirits to see whether they are from God, because many false prophets have gone out into the world. 1 John 4:1
   

There are diamonds and there are "diamonds." Among the latter are imitation gems made from hard-earth minerals in temperatures of 5,000 degrees Fahrenheit and above. They can be bought and sold, provide the buyer knows that they are not the real "mined diamonds." To sell them as such would be dishonest.

There is a true Christ and many false Christs. Jesus said of the last times, "False Christs and false prophets will appear" (Matthew 24:24). Gamaliel, a respected teacher in Israel, mentioned two of them: Theudas and Judas (Acts 5:36-37).

In our time, the danger is not so much that religious leaders will claim to be Christ as that they will proclaim a false Christ--they will misrepresent Jesus and His work. Those who say that He is not the Son of God are offering a fictitious Christ, a make-believe "diamond" instead of the true gem that He is. Some leave Him out altogether. A modern false prophet was recently quoted as saying: "The only time you hear the name 'Jesus Christ' in our church is when the janitor falls down stairs."

In Galatia, false teachers claimed that Jesus did not fully redeem us and that therefore we are not saved by faith alone but by faith and good works. All who today proclaim a salvation by faith and something else--faith and good character, faith and a golden-rule morality, faith and human righteousness--preach only a partial Savior, and a partial Savior is none at all.

Saint Peter is a true witness of Jesus. He confesses, "You are the Christ, the Son of the living God" (Matthew 16:16). He tells us that we were redeemed "with the precious blood of Christ, a lamb without blemish or defect" (1 Peter 1:19). This apostle is a spiritual jeweler offering us Christ as the genuine diamond.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Be What You Are"

Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought, but rather think of yourself with sober judgment, in accordance with the measure of faith God has given you. Romans 12:3
   

The Bible in several places compares people to flowers, one reason being that they flourish for a while, then quickly fade away. Other parallels can be drawn. A writer in an outdoors magazine recently stated that "the dandelion is a weed that impersonates a flower." It may be asked: Do people of one kind at times pretend to be people of another sort?

We may know of people who don't want to be what they really are, going to considerable effort to disguise their identity. The problem of human dissemblance prevails also in Christendom. Some who are unbelievers at heart pretend to be Christians. They are called hypocrites. In ancient Greece, "hypokrites" were actors who impersonated other people.

Jesus said in the Sermon on the Mount, "When you pray, do not be like the hypocrites, for they love to pray standing in the synagogues and on the street corners to be seen by men" (Matthew 6:5). Saint Matthew devotes the 23rd chapter of his Gospel to Jesus' condemnation of the Pharisees, many of whom were hypocrites. The Lord said, "They devour widows' houses and for a show make lengthy prayers" (Mark 12:40).

If hypocrites are a spiritual nuisance, why are they not summarily excommunicated from the church? This cannot be done, for we cannot look into anyone's heart to see whether the true faith in Christ is present. Jesus made this clear in His parable of the tares among the wheat stalks. We are not to eradicate the hypocrites, for we would make too many mistakes. Jesus said we should let both grow together until the harvest. On Judgment Day our Lord will Himself make the separation.

Jesus' laissez faire does not imply that His church should condone sham Christianity. The church is to warn its members about the sin of hypocrisy. Holy Scripture, in the words of Saint Paul, "is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16). It teaches us to be what we are. In the same chapter the apostle states also that God's Word, the Gospel, is "able to make you wise for salvation through faith in Christ Jesus" (2 Timothy 3:15). When we believe sincerely in Jesus as our Savior, we will try to keep His Word in good and honest hearts.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Where Do You Put a Risen Lord?"

So she came running to Simon Peter and the other disciple, the one Jesus loved, and said, “They have taken the Lord out of the tomb, and we don’t know where they have put Him!” John 20:2
   

“El Cid” is the 1000-year-old story of Rodrigo Diaz, a Spanish knight who almost single- handedly saved the kingdom of Spain from the Moors. The movie itself is based on truth. It spoke the truth when it showed El Cid’s victories. It told the truth when it showed his death and how his generals tried to pretend he was still alive. The movie accurately showed how they dressed his body in armor, strapped him to his horse, and tied a sword into his hand. Then it showed the body of the dead leader, charging out of the gates of the city, leading his men against the enemy.

The movie is quite accurate … up to that point. For then, in a desire for a happy ending, the movie begins to lie, showing the Spanish forces in the lead routing the frightened Moors. But it didn’t happen that way—the dead body fooled no one. The charge failed, and the defeated Spaniards ran away. They found out that a dead man is a poor leader.

In contrast, Christians follow a living Lord. Almost 2,000 years ago, Jesus was crucified. Tens of thousands had been crucified before Him, but only Jesus—unexpectedly, unbelievably—came back to life. Because He did, the world is changed. Those who believe on Jesus as their living Lord are confident that death doesn’t have the final word in their lives. Those who put their hope and their futures into the nail-pierced hands of the risen Savior, know they will never be alone, and that nothing in this world can separate them from the love of God which has come to them through Christ Jesus.

Christ is risen! Yes, we know that sort of thing doesn’t happen … can’t happen. But because Jesus was the sinless Son of God, He didn’t have our limitations. Jesus did rise. In the days that followed, Jesus’ friends saw Him, ate with Him, talked with Him, touched Him. Not just once, but numerous times. This, the most wonderful event in the history of the world, cannot be denied. Jesus lives and, because He does, we know we follow a living Lord. This is the truth that has changed the world and, I pray, your life.

[Soldier4Christ]

"Giving and Getting"

"In the same way, any of you who does not give up everything he has cannot be my disciple." Luke 14:33
   

Years ago, I spent some months watching one of the ladies in my congregation die. She was relatively young, in her early forties. She was dying because she had a bad heart. Doctors gave her a host of medications to keep her going, but all of those drugs were only temporary. She knew she would never be there for the weddings of some of her children. She would never hold a grandchild on her lap. She agonized about how much of a goodbye she should give to her husband. She had things to say, but she didn’t want to add to his worry. He was going to be alone. She was dying, and there was no cure.

Then, in a different state, a young man had an accident. After the man’s wife donated his organs, the woman from my church got a call: “Be at the hospital in an hour, we have a new heart for you.” The surgery worked. She came home from the hospital with color in her cheeks; she came home with a future. She could never forget that a young man had died so she might live. As a result, she would have done anything she could to say “thank you” to that man’s family.

Thousands of years before heart transplants were invented, the Old Testament prophet Ezekiel wrote: God says, “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh. And I will put my Spirit in you and move you to follow my decrees and be careful to keep my laws. … you will be my people, and I will be your God” (Ezekiel 36:26-28).

Ezekiel was describing God’s plan to give dying humanity a spiritual heart transplant. To give us this new lease on life, God sent His Son as our divine donor. He carried our sins and died the death our transgressions deserved. His resurrection three days later is proof that His sacrifice has been completed and was successful. Now, like the psalmist, believers can confidently pray, “Create in me a clean heart O God, and renew a right spirit within me” (Psalm 51:10). Knowing God has given us a new spirit and a new heart, we are gladly grateful to the Savior who intentionally, willingly, has given His life so that all who believe might live forever with Him.