A Heart of Flesh: God’s Spiritual Transplant

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.

Ezekiel 36:26 NIV

When God saves us, he exchanges a “heart of flesh” in for our “heart of stone.”

Instead of dying, we live.

When you think about it, it’s a lot like an organ transplant. This happens when a sick person with a non-functioning organ gets a new one to replace it.

Everything from hearts to kidneys to corneas get transplanted.

It’s a medical miracle that saves thousands each year. But, it’s not without its risks.

A big complication is called transplant rejection. This happens when the recipient’s body sees the new organ as a foreign invader.

Ironically, the old tissue attacks the very thing meant to bring it life.

When God saves us, the “old man” — as Paul so often calls it — rebels against this life-saving transplant, too.

Where has the “old man” been getting the upper hand?

In Colossians 3:5, Paul calls this what is “earthly” in us, saying:

“Put to death, therefore, whatever belongs to your earthly nature: sexual immorality, impurity, lust, evil desires and greed, which is idolatry.”

Submit these areas to God right now by first confessing them. As David said in Psalm 51:4, “Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight…”

This year, what sin do you need to confess and kill? As John Owen famously said, “Be killing sin or sin will be killing you.”

Don’t let your spiritual organ transplant get rejected (or continually attacked) by your old nature.

Today’s devotion by Jordan Loftis, bestselling author of Today We Win and editor of Short Daily Devotions.