A phrase Germans use to wish each other a happy new year is “Guten Rutsch ins neue Jahr!” which literally means “Good slide into the new year!” I’m not sure where the phrase originated, but it seems to reflect the significant movement or transition that occurs at the beginning of a new year.
This new year is going to be full of transition and new things. I’m about to slide into a new semester with a new schedule! One of my goals for my last semester at BFA is to be fully present in every moment. While I need to look ahead for planning purposes (job applications, reference letters, etc.), I don’t want to overlook the people God has placed in my life for this semester.
Many people, both in North America and in Germany, use the new year to reflect on the past year and try to create a change in their lives in the upcoming year. When we make resolutions, though, we’re often going to find ourselves sliding back into the old habits. There’s probably some depressing statistic out there about most resolutions being broken within a month. Why is it, if we really want to change, that we can’t seem to do anything about it?
The Sunday after New Year’s, one of the pastors at my church gave a great message about this problem. He said that our actions won’t change for long if our heart isn’t right – in fact, we need a heart transplant.
Here are several Biblical references to the heart:
- Matthew 15:18-19 – “But what comes out of the mouth proceeds from the heart, and this defiles a person. 19 For out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” The advice to “follow your heart” might not be so well-founded!
- 2 Samuel 11 – David was a man after God’s own heart but followed his “heart” and committed adultery with Bathsheba.
- Psalm 51 – David’s Psalm of repentance: David cries out to God to create a clean heart in him.
- Ezekiel 36 25 I will sprinkle clean water on you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses, and from all your idols I will cleanse you. 26 And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh. 27 And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules.
- 2 Corinthians 3 2 You yourselves are our letter of recommendation, written on our hearts, to be known and read by all.3 And you show that you are a letter from Christ delivered by us, written not with ink but with the Spirit of the living God, not on tablets of stone but on tablets of human hearts.
- Matthew 6:21 For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also.
Sometimes it’s hard to let go of the heart of stone because we still desire the things of the world. A heart transplant can be a painful process, but it is life-saving! Our bodies want to reject the new heart, so becoming a Christian doesn’t create instant, easy change.
There was an interesting connection the pastor made in the Ezekiel passage about hearts of stone and hearts of flesh. The temple was destroyed because Israel had hung their hearts on false things, like luxury and idols. Many people nowadays trust their church-going habits to save them, which becomes their idol/temple. The old temple of stone housed God’s presence, but it was destroyed. Jesus the Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14) – Immanuel, God’s presence with us! And His body of flesh was destroyed so we could live! Now, the Spirit lives in our hearts, God’s presence in us. Jesus himself should be the heart of flesh that we receive! He said approximately, “What our heart hangs on, our treasure, should be Jesus” (Matthew 6:21).
Where is your heart in the new year? If you know Jesus, are you letting the Spirit mold your heart of flesh, or are you still hanging on to other treasures? Will you let Him transform your life? If you don’t know Jesus, do you recognize your need for a life-saving heart transplant? If you want your life to change completely, you can give your heart over to Jesus. He will change you from the inside out.
