It’s Friday! I’m joining Kate Motaung for Five Minute Friday. One word prompt. Five minutes. No editing. Many of us writing on that same word.
Today’s prompt is … Create.
With the word prompt before me, I sit for a few minutes to think. Quietly the words begin to run through my head …
“Create in me a clean heart, O God. Renew a loyal spirit within me.”
(Psalm 51:10, NLT)
They were words I had recently read as my heart (maybe yours as well), needs to cleaned out often (dare I say, daily?) in order to remain constant, steadfast, and loyal to both God and those I love.
In studying the verse, I learned the word ‘create’ means a totally new one rather than a refashioning of the old one (my take from the Old Testament Lexical Aids). Relief washed over me when I read the definition.
Apart from God, there is nothing good about my old heart. My heart needs a do-over more often than my hair and/or makeup. My heart would become callous and unfeeling and wander if not for the work of Holy Spirit.
God does not merely repair my old heart. He replaces it with a new one, unalloyed in nature. He gives me a heart that is ready and desires to obey and serve Him. My heart is enabled to break over the things which break His heart.
And the thing about this new heart is that He gives a new heart each time I come before Him in repentance ….
“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: 26-27, NLT)
He creates in me a new heart.
He gives me His Spirit which produces an entirely new ability to follow Him.
I are a new creation!
Today I am joining …. Five Minute Friday and Faith Filled Friday and Grace & Truth and #FreshMarketFriday .
Joanne, I’m so glad we’re neighbors at Fresh Market Friday … I needed exactly what you’ve written here. My prayer today will be for a tender, responsive heart. That’s not what I demonstrated yesterday, in the middle of a series of stressful challenges, but today’s a new day, and I’m so thankful God’s mercies are new this morning! Peace to you this lovely Friday!
Lois, thank you for sharing. It is amazing what the daily stresses can reveal about our own hearts. Trust me, I wrote from that very same perspective! Like you, I am grateful for His mercy today. May we move forward today responding from hearts made new! Blessings!
Popping over to say hello from Fresh Market Friday! I am so grateful that God can create a new heart for us!
Me too! Glad He does it again and again.
I’m so glad God takes out my stubborn heart. That’s so different than trying to make over something that is broken. Today the words tender and responsive caught my attention. I love that He has made our new hearts responsive to Him. Linking with you at Grace and Truth today. Hope you have a wonderful weekend.
Ginger, He truly does a transplant rather than a repair. We end up with a heart better than our original. May we continually respond to Him, and thus, maintain our heart health. Blessings!
So glad you shared this at Grace & Truth! It’s a wonderful reflection on an aspect of “Create” that wouldn’t necessarily pop out at first for most people. Thank you.
Thank you. It was my first thought when I saw the word prompt. And in fairness to doing the prompt, I go with the first thought 🙂 I am always amazed at how one word can prompt us each to go in different directions. Glad you stopped here!