9月15日         

標　　題：肉心

經　　節：我也要賜給你們一個新心，將新靈放在你們裡面，又從你們的肉體中除掉石心，賜給你們肉心。（以西結書卅六章26節）

我們對神的回應是由心發出的。當我們遠離聖靈潔淨的工作時，我們的心會變得非常虛假及欺詐（箴言十七：9）。大衛禱告求神塗抹他的過犯，潔淨他的心（詩篇五十一：10）。神最渴望的事，是要祂的百姓全心全意地愛祂（申命記六：5）。耶穌說，清心的人有福了（馬太福音五：8）。

罪使人心變硬（馬太福音十三：4、19）。當我們讓愈多的罪沉澱在內心及生命中，就會愈來愈抗拒神的話語。不饒恕的罪使人心變硬。我們不可能一直抵擋聖靈的感動，同時又想維護不變硬的心。當暴露在邪惡及不敬虔的環境下，我們對神與祂的話會變得麻木不仁。過了一段時間之後，我們的心會硬得像石頭，一點也沒有辦法接收神新鮮的話語。我們對罪變得麻痹而無知覺。

你對神的心是否愈來愈冷漠？你是否覺得沒有任何東西可以使你的心變柔軟？神有解決之道，祂會使你脫離那些毀滅你的影響力（以西結書卅六：24），祂要潔淨你所有的骯髒不潔，除去你心中所有的偶像（以西結書卅六：25）。祂會除去你的石心，並且賜下肉心，能體貼祂及祂的話。如果你不夠愛神，求祂更新你的心，恢復你對祂的熱愛。

A Heart of Flesh

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. (Ezekiel 36:26)

From our hearts comes our response to God. Apart from the cleansing work of the Holy Spirit, our hearts are extremely deceitful (Jeremiah 17:9). David prayed that God would cleanse him from the ravages of his sin and purify his heart (Ps. 51:10). God’s greatest desire is that His people love Him with all their hearts (Deut. 6:5). Jesus said we are blessed if our hearts are pure (Matt. 5:8).

Sin hardens the heart (Matt. 13:4, 19). The more sin we allow to pass over our hearts and through our lives, the more resistant we become to a word from God. The sin of unforgiveness stiffens our hearts. We cannot continue to resist the prompting of the Holy Spirit without becoming hardened against Him. Exposing ourselves to evil and ungodly influences desensitizes us to God and His word. Over time, our hearts become like stone, unreceptive to a fresh word from God. We become anesthetized to sin.

Has your heart grown hard toward God? Do you feel as though nothing could soften it? God has a solution. He will separate you from the influences that are destroying you (Ezek. 36:24). He will cleanse you from all filthiness and remove everything that has taken His place in your affections (Ezek. 36:25). He will remove your heart of stone and replace it with a heart of flesh, tender toward Him and His word. If your love for God is not what it should be, ask Him to renew your heart and restore your devotion to Him.