Extreme Make-over

Ezekiel 36:26 -- "I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit within you; I will take the heart of stone out of your flesh and give you a heart of flesh."

With a bucket full of creaky limbs and stiff joints L. Frank Baum's Tin Man walks the yellow brick road in his quest to find a heart. He's asked why he wants one - and from the well-read pages of Baum's The Wonderful Wizard of Oz there pops out one of my favorite quotes:

“I think you are wrong to want a heart. It makes most people unhappy. If you only knew it, you are in luck not to have a heart.”

The truth of the matter is - this quote hits home for so many of us. I don't think there is one person on the planet that can say they've never felt heart-ache. And when in the throws of a terribly painful life event, it's difficult to find the good things about having one. [a heart, that is]

But in Ezekiel 36 God tells us that it IS most desirable to have a heart of flesh. A heart that feels. A heart that breaks and yes, a heart that experiences pain. God promises to provide a new heart with a new spirit, a heart that no longer resembles stone.

Ever wonder why this is so important?

It comes down to life, doesn't it? A stone pumps no blood, gives no life. And while it's true, a stone won't feel any pain - it will never know joy, either. Would there be joy without the salty tears? Would one appreciate the Spring without knowing the Winter that comes before it?

Before you answer that with a resounding YES - think about this one thing: Jesus felt everything when His life drained away from Him hanging on the cross.  He felt every physical pain - but more deeply, He knew a very broken heart. Not only did He feel the pain of betrayal, of rejection, of defeat - but the One He could always count upon for support had no choice but to turn His back in a moment when Jesus needed Him the most. God could not look upon the sin that Jesus carried on His shoulders - for us. 

And Jesus felt it. All of it. So we wouldn't have to.

As the Tin Man roams the fields, the forests, and lets not forget - that yellow brick road, I am introduced to a kindred spirit. A fellow seeker. Aren't we ALL seeking? LOVE? Say the word heart in a crowded room and the first thing that springs to mind is LOVE. There are countless songs about the broken heart, the heart that skips a beat, the heart that dances to great music. We would not BE if it weren't for that constantly beating life battery hidden away in our rib cages.

In Proverbs 4:23 God tells us to "Above all else, guard your heart, for it is the wellspring of life."

It couldn't be said more perfectly -

I'm thankful that Jesus gave me a new heart. That He breathed a new spirit into me - a new wellspring from which to draw the unique droplets of emotion as I travel my own yellow brick road.  I'm thankful - if for no other reason than for the price Jesus had to pay in order to give them to me. But there ARE other reasons, as well. Lots of them.

I challenge you to count the reasons today. As Ann Voskamp challenged me - I challenge you to keep a journal. Write in it every single time you think of something for which you are grateful. The next time you feel the painful beat of your own heart - through out the next trouble or the next heart-ache - make an entry in your journal. Think also of all the wonderful moments that ticker of yours has experienced.

Your entries might surprise you - as you read how very many times Jesus has given you a new heart and breathed into YOU a new spirit.