New Heart

Hold one stone for your hand. E cold. E hard. E no dey feel anything, and e no dey ever change. Now put your hand for your chest and feel as your heart dey beat. E warm, e dey alive, e dey move. One time, God make one promise about dese two things.

Na di twelfth year of di exile, for Babylonia. One day, one man waka enter di exiles settlement, e dey stagger. E don escape from Jerusalem, e don travel hundreds of miles, and e bring di news wey dem don dey fear: Di city don fall. Di prophet Ezekiel don warn say dis go happen. Now e don happen. Di temple don go. Di exiles na people wey don scatter, and di nations dey mock dem, dey talk say: dese na Di Lord people, yet dem still comot from im land. But now, after many years of warning, Ezekiel messages begin change. God begin talk about hope.

God first explain why e go act. No be because im people deserve am. Dem don disgrace im name everywhere wey dem go. But God talk: I go act because of my holy name. I go show di nations who I be. And then e make one promise wey get five parts. First, home. Because I go carry you comot from among di nations, and gather you from all di countries, and bring you come back to your own land. Every family wey don scatter, from every country. Second, cleansing. Then I go sprinkle clean water for your body, and you go dey clean. From all your dirt and all your idols, I go wash you. Like priest wey dey sprinkle water for di temple, God imself go make dem clean.

And third, di heart of di promise. I go give you new heart, and I go put new spirit inside you: I go comot di heart of stone from your body, and I go give you heart of flesh. God people don get hard heart. One prophet after another don talk, and dem heart still remain like stone, cold and e no dey move, no matter wetin God talk or do. You no fit repair stone heart by polishing am. You no fit make am soft by trying harder. Na to change am be di only way. So God talk, I go do am. I go comot di stone, and put living heart wey dey beat, heart wey fit feel, wey fit answer, and wey fit love.

Fourth: And I go put my Spirit inside you, and make you waka for my statutes, and you go keep my judgments, and do dem. God no go just give dem rules and hope say dem go manage. E go put im own Spirit inside dem, so dat dem go want follow am and dem go fit do am. And fifth, one family promise, di one wey God don make again and again since di days of Moses. And you go live for di land wey I give your fathers; you go be my people, and I go be your God. Imagine say you hear dis one for di same week wey you hear say dem don destroy your city. Everything don lost, and God talk: I never finish with you. I go make you new from inside go outside.

When di Bible talk about heart, e usually mean pass feelings. For Hebrew thinking, di heart, lev, na di centre of di whole person: where you dey think, decide, remember and choose, as well as where you dey feel. So heart of stone no be only cold heart. Na mind and will wey don become stubborn, wey no fit answer God again. Na why God no promise to repair am, but to give new heart.

You go find dis promise for Ezekiel chapter thirty-six, verse twenty-four reach twenty-eight. Home, cleansing, new heart, God Spirit, and im people once again. So see one question wey you go carry dey go. Any part of your heart dey wey don hard like stone, wey you fit ask God make e make am new?